


Come Online

by jaeger_delta (deltasierra), onlyoneday



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Chatting & Messaging, Cybersex, Hockey, M/M, Webcam/Video Chat Sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-27
Updated: 2017-08-02
Packaged: 2018-02-06 10:26:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 7
Words: 65,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1854664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deltasierra/pseuds/jaeger_delta, https://archiveofourown.org/users/onlyoneday/pseuds/onlyoneday
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Raleigh and Chuck find each other on Chat Roulette and things turn hot and bothered pretty fast. As much as they can, with computer screens and the Pacific Ocean between them...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Here's the naughty first chapter of the silly RP me and [onlyoneday](http://archiveofourown.org/users/onlyoneday/pseuds/onlyoneday) are working on. (Inspired by the cybersex in [The Constant Beat To My Heart](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1403626) by [SublimeDiscordance](http://archiveofourown.org/users/sublimediscordance)).
> 
> These two horny dumbasses, right?
> 
> Enjoy!

It was never anything very serious. Just a bit of harmless fun to pass the boring hours between finishing his school work and submitting to sleep. And besides, it wasn't like he was hanging about with his cock out like most of the people on Chat Roulette.

 

No, Chuck was always more of an opinion giver. The kind to set Max up on the chair and train him to wear a pair of sunglasses and be cute while Chuck took command of the keyboard and gave informed opinions on just how small someone's cock was. Well, they were Max's opinions, really.

 

Sometimes he got a good reaction, twice he and someone dressed up as Spiderman had a banter war that took up most of the night, but it was usually just random time wasting. There was the odd exception but it was usually just something to fill the hour or so before his mushy brain completely gave up.

 

That night was different only in that Max had earned a little Hawaiian shirt as well. Sitting pretty and patiently for the little dog biscuits he knew he would be fed if he sat there. For whatever reason his human seemed to love it, so who was he to care.

 

Raleigh flipped open the lid of the laptop and double-clicked the webcam icon, and soon enough he was staring back at his own face. Which, he felt, was quite good-looking. He positioned the lid just so that the camera didn’t show his face, but definitely showed his bare chest, and boxers.

 

He grinned and opened his browser.

 

It had started as a joke, really; Yance daring him to go chat with some total strangers on the internet wearing nothing but underwear. His brother had been all like, “c’mon, no-one’s gonna know it’s you, it’s hilarious, trust me”.

 

But Raleigh had gotten a lot of reactions. A lot of positive reactions, at that. More than he’d ever gotten in high school. Okay, so maybe all the praise was a little addictive, who cared? It was the internet. It was anonymous. Nobody knew who he was, and if people didn’t want to see his bod, then they shouldn’t be on Chat Roulette, where you saw genitals more often than not.

 

Raleigh logged in with his usual ID, ‘danger1998’, made sure the laptop was sitting stable on the pillow on his bed, sat back, and pressed the ‘Start’ button at the top of the screen.

 

He was met with the usual handful of half hard dicks stroked in fluorescent glow of a computer screen, a few group of girls with a sign reading "Show us your dick!" in Swedish and English, a few almost immediate 'Nexts' from people just browsing for girls and then finally the atmospherically lit bedroom of an English bulldog in a Hawaiian shirt and RayBans.

 

Chuck had been surfing for a while and nearly hit the Next button, expecting to see yet another cock pop up on screen but.. well. It would be a lie to say he didn't linger for a moment. There was nothing wrong with admiring a nice set of abs.

 

"What do you reckon, boy?" he asked. Max seemed uninterested and turned his head to the side. There it was, then. He smirked and quickly typed into the chat before the other moved on.

 

 

Raleigh chuckled at the sight of the adorable dog, who apparently liked what he (she?) was seeing, and happily obliged, tensing his abs and rolling his hips forward a little.

 

 

Oh, Jesus. Chuck took a small breath, watching the body react, hips rolling, muscles tensing.

 

He shouldn't care, it was just some random naked guy, but damn.

 

And maybe it _was_ the anonymity that made it alright. Enough to not worry about enjoying the gratuitous fanservice. Enough to not feel like a complete pervert.

 

 

Which was true. He did ask about the dog.

 

  

Raleigh hesitated. His real name was girlish enough as it was, so he should just go by something else, right? People didn’t usually ask for his name, just called him Danger. Which he liked, a lot, because it sounded badass. Well, he’d started the whole name questions thing.

 

  

Ray. Sounds like a mechanic. And as for Danger, Chuck wasn’t sure how badass it really was, but sure. Whatever. That was the thing about being online, wasn’t it? You could be anyone or anything you wanted.

 

  

Raleigh bit his lip. He was, like… talking to a dog. Duh, there was a person there somewhere actually typing, but… well, he was curious.

 

  

 

He typed automatically, then actually considered it. Sure. Why not.

 

 

So far so good, Raleigh thought. Bulldogs didn’t live that long, or it’d have to be really special immortal bulldog. So that was probably the real info. And if he lived in Sydney… Raleigh didn’t have to worry about, like, getting stalked or something. Or ‘Max’ being anyone he knew.

 

Maybe he could be a bit more forward, just to see what would happen.

 

 

Chuck snorted out loud. Yeah, of course he did, why else would he have bothered talking with an abdomen this long. But he could smell his ego all the way from America.

 

Then again, _American_ , so he really shouldn't have been surprised.

 

 

This was ridiculous, he thought. But also harmless. It reminded him a bit of those websites where you pay to chat with a model on live feed but so what. He was seventeen and this guy was hot (from what he could see) and Chuck Hansen was his own man. Besides, it could be worse. He could be out huffing paint or something. In the grand scheme of things this wasn’t all that bad at all.

 

Raleigh smiled.

 

 

Chuck glanced over at Max and whistled, tossing a dog biscuit onto the floor. “Here boy, go get it.” The dog harumphed and jumped out of the chair to retrieve his prize. It sent the glasses flying but neither of them cared. It left the frame empty but they were still very much connected.

 

 

The dog jumped out of the frame, leaving Raleigh with only a vague impression of a wall, a floor, and maybe something like a desk.

 

He considered asking Max to show himself, but decided against it. Maybe he could… maybe Max would do it himself, eventually?

 

Raleigh paused. Just what was he doing here? He glanced at the webcam, at the screen, the words in the chat.

 

He was getting kind of excited

 

If Yance found out he’d never hear the end of it. And… 17 was underage, right? It was in America.

 

Why was he even thinking about that? Shit.

 

But his fingers flew over the keyboard, quickly opening a new tab and looking up ‘age of consent in australia’.

 

17.

 

The fuck was he doing, really?

 

He frowned and stared at the monitor again. It was gonna be now or never or something. This was anonymous anyway, just some random stranger on the internet. As he kept telling himself. And he was really, really curious how ‘Max’ would respond…

 

Raleigh ran a hand down his chest and abs, over his thigh, then back up, and hooked his thumb under the elastic band of his boxers.

 

 

Aw fuck. Chuck found himself letting out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding, unconsciously wetting his lips as the other moved. It also took him a moment to realize he’d moved ever so slightly closer to the screen.

 

He answered, brain knocking him back into reality. He’d lost himself in the slow moving frames for a moment. Some small fantasy of licking the curve of those abs taking up most of his concentration.

 

 

Quickly followed by,

 

 

You know. Just to see if he would.

 

_Fuck_. What the… what was this teenage brat thinking —

 

But those words on the screen sent a hot thrill down his spine and straight to his dick. Raleigh shivered, shifted a little. Dammit. He was already getting hard, and not even touching himself.

 

That just wasn’t playing fair.

 

 

Chuck smirked. Oh, the game had just gotten very interesting.

 

 

Ah shit, he immediately thought. That would likely scare him off. He’d been told in the past his sense of humor didn’t always translate over text. Or at all. Bearing that in mind he slid from his seat to the spot was usually reserved for Max during these adventures online - slouching back and throwing an arm over the back of the chair.

 

His webcam wasn’t particularly great and the frames per second on Chat Roulette wasn’t state of the art, but he was easy enough to make out, even in the less than amazing light. He’d had the camera set up for Max and therefore pointed downwards but what was his face, anyway. Keeping his face out of it felt safer, anyway. The frame caught him neck to navel. Young but well muscled and wearing a loose black singlet. Raleigh got a flash of baggy sleep trousers as he moved over. Not that it mattered much. Not that Raleigh was wearing anything.

 

And to be honest Chuck preferred it this way. Giving the orders, reaping the glee when they were followed. It didn’t really matter it was some random guy on the other side of the planet.

 

In fact, that almost made it better.

 

 

Oh yes, Raleigh was happy. _Very_ happy, considering the state of a certain body part as Max revealed himself. Not a whole lot, but… pale skin, lean muscles… and definitely not old or fat.

 

 

He still felt kinda unsure about taking his boxers off. He hadn’t actually, really done this with anyone, ever. Not like he was a virgin or something, but this was different. He didn’t even know who Max was, there was a whole Pacific ocean between them. He thought that would make him feel safer, but… it only made it riskier. Weirder. Hotter.

 

Raleigh ran his hand over his half-hard erection, wondering what Max would think of its not inconsiderable size.

 

 

Chuck couldn’t help but smile, shifting slightly in his seat, unable to hide the little thrill that caused.

 

That’s right. Get hard for him.

 

He swallowed and wet his lips, a small gesture he often made when he was thinking—not that Ray could see. Something in him was sending a warning. That maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. That maybe his dad would barge in any second and catch him stroking his dick on Chat Roulette but-

 

Well. But nothing. He was still sitting there. Still enjoying the show. Still encouraging it.

 

 

How own words back at him.

 

Raleigh was quickly losing his common sense. This was his own room, but shit, Yance could walk in, or…

 

But he was still getting harder, and was now lazily stroking himself through the fabric of his boxers.

 

 

 

Not that he really needed one, but it was fun all the same. An experiment of sorts. An experiment in getting hot guys out of their shorts. Chuck didn’t consider himself a scientist, but he could on this occasion, and in the name of science he knew what he had to do. Which is why he slowly dropped one hand and slid it up his chest, dragging his shirt up to give a peek at the body he’d earned on the rugby field.

 

Raleigh let out a low whistle at the revealed six pack. Max looked _good_. Especially for a 17 year-old. Raleigh wondered if the kid had been lying about his age, though he didn’t really see the point.

 

 

 

He took a deep breath, and then pulled his boxers down just enough for his cock to spring free.

 

There, he did it.

 

 

_Winky smiley._

 

“Nerd”, Chuck said aloud, but he had gotten what he wanted. So there was that.

 

And it was nice. This guy was nice. It wasn’t surprising he found himself with his hand on his crotch, the blood in his body quickly reallocating to his nether regions.

 

 

Okay. He could do this. He just..needed to kick Max out and lock his bedroom door first. Which he did quickly and returned to his seat, wiggling out of his shirt slowly so that the frame rate wouldn’t ruin.

 

 

Raleigh’s dick twitched at the sight of Max’ full naked upper body, looking broader than he’d expected now that the black singlet was off. Big shoulders and arms, defined pecs and abs running down into narrow hips —

 

It’s what he wanted to see, but it’s not all he wanted.

 

Raleigh was still slowly fisting himself, which was actually getting kind of painful, and he wanted to get off. Maybe he should just close the laptop and grab a few tissues. He’d usually watch porn to get this far, but hey, whatever worked.

 

For some stupid reason he didn’t want to think about, he kept the laptop open, chat window and webcam right there.

 

He sucked in his breath.

 

 

 

But that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. In fact, Chuck rather liked it. His heart was hammering in his chest, adrenaline coursing through him. This wasn’t a big deal, right? It was just some harmless fun. It didn’t _mean_ anything. The fact this was the most action Chuck had gotten in a while had absolutely nothing to do with it. The fact the guy was fucking beautiful was in no way affecting his judgment. Neither was the way the guy spoke to him. Nope. Not at all.

 

“Fuck me..” He mumbled, shifting again, leaning forward to pull the webcam down slightly further so he could slouch in his seat and absently hook his thumb in the waistband of his trackies. Playing there for a moment, letting his fingers slide over the cut of his hip, the planes of his lower abdomen, before pushing at the material.

 

But he was determined not to lose the upper hand. Was there an upper hand? This wasn’t a contest or anything but..

 

 

Raleigh figured Max couldn’t have missed how he bucked up into his own hand at those words. Oh, fuck… he hadn’t known this would be such a turn-on.

 

He typed the word carefully with one hand, cursing the way every letter sent another tiny shock through his body. He pressed ‘enter’.

 

And nothing happened.

 

“Shit, what the…” Raleigh mumbled, tapping the key again. And again, harder.

 

The page went blank.

 

“Fuck!!! Fuck, come on…”

 

On the lower left of the screen, there were zero bars on his internet connection. “You’ve got to be shitting me.”

 

Then the bars went back up, and the chat screen was back.

 

But Max was gone.

 

Just like that.

 

And just like Raleigh, Chuck was screaming at the computer. He was just starting to get into that and the guy moved on? What bullshit. It left him on edge, all riled up and now he was left on his ass, hard and ready and..completely lacking stimulation.

 

“Fucking asshole..” He grumbled and pushed back, erection tenting the fabric of his trousers. The mental image of the guy’s body was now seared into his mind, thanks a lot, and it seemed the only way of getting rid of it would be to finish solo. Not really that huge a deal in the grand scheme of things but it felt empty in the moment. Like he’d been let down. And so it was a sour, grousing wank that ended the night and kept him away from Chat Roulette for a solid week.

 

And by then it didn’t matter anymore. And his free time was once again devoted to getting girls to flash their tits for his dog.

 

After Raleigh had suppressed his urge to throw the laptop across the room, he fell back on the bed grumbling — and still hard.

 

“Down, boy,” he muttered, closing his eyes.

 

But the excitement that had been coursing through him when he was chatting with Max, getting each other to undress, who knows what more… maybe he would’ve jacked off on webcam, or see Max do it.

 

With a flush of shame on his cheeks, Raleigh’s hand crept downwards, wrapping around his still achingly hard cock.

 

“You little bastard,” he said, even though it wasn’t like Max could hear him. And fuck, it had been a totally random, anonymous encounter. Now he was jerking off thinking of this cheeky Australian guy, the way he’d just ordered Raleigh around — and how much he’d _liked_ that — and fuck, he was never going to find him or talk to him again amongst the millions and millions of people that were on the internet every day.

 

Somehow, that didn’t discourage him.

 

He found himself going onto the chat site every night, just in the hope of catching a glimpse of a white-and-brown bulldog, possibly wearing clothes and sunglasses. Raleigh kept his clothes on. He’d recognise the dog, wouldn’t he? He no longer felt like letting anyone stare at him over the internet. Anyone else, maybe.

 

By now he’d clicked the ‘next’ button so often, if he’d gotten five cents for every click he’d be a damn millionaire.

 

“Rals!? You coming with us or what?” Yance called from the living room, just as Raleigh made his one bazillionth click. Still no dog.

 

He should go out, shouldn’t he? Pizza was good, friends were good.

 

But what if the next click…

 

“RALS!!”

 

Raleigh sighed and shut the lid. “I’m coming!” he yelled back.

 

Yance was giving him the death glare when he managed to get out of his room dressed and smelling like Axe.

 

“Dude, I am going to throw that laptop out the window,” Yance muttered. “You’re turning into a nerd.”

 

“Shut up,” Raleigh mumbled. Even though Yance was totally right. Sigh.

 

They went out for pizza, Raleigh laughed and talked along... And the first thing he did when he got home was dive into his room and crawl onto his bed, grabbing the laptop.

 

Yance followed him close behind. “Seriously?” he said, opening the door to Raleigh’s room. “What’s with you?”

 

“Just someone I wanna talk to,” Raleigh mumbled unthinkingly.

 

Yance’s face brightened. “Ooooh! Is that what’s going on? My baby bro has an online special friend?” He barged in and climbed onto Raleigh’s bed. “So, who is he? Do you have a picture? I bet he’s hot. C’mon, Rals, show meeee —”

 

The sound that came out of Raleigh might’ve been something of a _snarl_ when he protectively clutched the laptop in his arms before Yance could get to it. “Just leave me alone, alright?”

 

Yancy laughed. “You’re blushing!? Oh my god, do you have, like, a crush on him? You know all the guys you meet online are creepy hairy rapists right?”

 

Raleigh slumped forward. “This is all your fault anyway,” he said.

 

Yancy raised an eyebrow. “‘scuse me?”

 

“You were the one who dared me to —”

 

Yancy fell back laughing. “Oh, oh god, no way, _that’s_ what it is? Ahahaha, oh wow, baby bro,” he grinned, nearly wiping the tears of laughter from his eyes. “Please don’t tell me you showed anyone your wang.”

 

“Aaarghh, would you shut up!?” Raleigh exclaimed, pushing Yancy off the bed. “It’s none of your business!”

 

Yancy pulled a face and stuck out his tongue. “A- _ha_ , but you’re showing _your_ business to the nice gentlemen online — pffftt,” he snorted, and went into a full-on laughing fit.

 

Raleigh shook his head and sat back, carefully putting the laptop down on the floor. With his foot securely on it.

 

“Okay, so, maybe I met someone,” Raleigh eventually said, when most of Yancy’s laughter died down. “But it was random. And now I can’t find him.”

 

Yancy sat up and sighed. “Oh. You’re serious, huh, kiddo.” He leaned forward and ruffled Raleigh’s hair. “Listen, you can’t just lock yourself in your room like this, dude. Plenty of guys out there. What made that one so special?”

 

Yeah, what made Max so special? Raleigh frowned. Maybe he had just gotten caught up in the whole thing.

 

“I guess,” he replied.

 

“We’ll go out tomorrow night, all right? Me, you and Tendo,” Yancy said. “We’ll be your wingmen. Hook you up with a real-life cutie. How’s that sound?”

 

Raleigh grinned. “Not so bad.”

 

Yancy smiled and patted Raleigh’s head for good measure. “There ya go. No more flashing your dick at the webcam, you hear me?”

 

Raleigh affectionately threw a pillow at him. “Yeah, yeah.”

 

It had been weeks, maybe months, and Raleigh had forgotten all about that one time he pulled his boxers down for some kid in Australia. He’d gone out a whole bunch of times, dated someone, stopped dating someone.

 

On one summer night, he found himself clicking around on Chat Roulette again. Just because. He really wasn’t looking for anyone in particular. He was just bored, not wearing much more than shorts because it was hot even for Alaskan standards.

 

He clicked, and was faced by a bulldog in a fancy outfit.

 

Raleigh froze, heart thumping loudly in his chest. It couldn’t be…

 

 

What were the chances? Out of all the people on the internet how many were on this dumb website? Out of that number how many had a bulldog they liked to dress up? The statistics of running into someone more than once on there were slim to none but, hey, they did happen.

 

There would come a point when someone would have to eventually intervene in the Hansen’s obsessive and slightly scary obsession with buying Max clothing, but that day had not yet come. Tonight’s ensemble was very fancy, indeed. A little police uniform with a small foam axe held in his mouth.

 

An obscure costume, but Chuck enjoyed it so what did it matter.

 

Their last screen finished and flashed to a new partner. Chuck was halfway through writing a small comment when the chat pinged. Not ‘Hello’. Not ‘Hey doggie’.

 

Max.

 

He looked at the user ID

 

No fuckin’ way.

 

The urge to push max out of the way was almost overwhelming, fingers tearing a strand of abuse into the chat but he pulled back before sending. He could just ‘Next’ the asshole but…

 

Well, what were the chances.

 

So he took a moment to really consider and decided maybe starting with an avalanche of abuse for being a Next-ing dickhead wasn’t the best start. To be honest, he didn’t know why he really cared all that much. It was one near brush one time months ago. How this guy even remembered him was a- well maybe not a mystery, Chuck thought, glancing at Max who was still holding the axe, a line of spit dripping from the side of his mouth. He guessed Max _was_ pretty distinctive.

 

 

_ohshitohshitohshit_ —

 

A thousand horror scenarios played out Raleigh’s mind, all of them exactly the same. He didn’t know how ridiculous the odds were of finding Max again, but he wasn’t going take _another_ chance at it.

 

  
  


 

He reminded himself he had to breathe. Right. Okay.

 

Shit, now what? Max probably thought he was some kind of obsessive stalker or creep. The fact that he even remembered the dog, and the guy’s name, and was throwing his email address around. Well. No going back now, was there.

 

Chuck asked before he could think otherwise.

 

 

If that was true, maybe it was for the best he hadn’t jumped on him.

 

The sane part of his brain wondered why he cared but the hard done by horny part remembered exactly why.

 

Raleigh replied. Paused to find the right words for a minute.

 

 

Now there was a concept.

 

 

Chuck paused as well, scrubbing a hand over his face and glancing at Max. “Go find dad. Go on,” he shooed and Max obeyed, leaving the frame empty to show as Chuck got up and closed the door behind his dog. Somewhere, Herc was scratching his head over just where Chuck had found a tiny plush axe. Not that he was complaining.

 

But good, that business taken care of, he flicked the lock and sauntered back to his desk, sitting back in the worn captain’s chair he’d liberated from his neighbor’s yard sale the year before. He didn’t care, he’d find a way to bring it with him to uni. Somehow.

 

He smiled, seeing that the guy was still connected, and let his right hand aimlessly wander over his stomach. Oh...yes he remembered Ray, now. He remembered exactly where they’d been, as well.

 

 

Raleigh wasn’t sure if Max meant it or not. Maybe he was just asking some shallow, flirty question.

 

But Raleigh _had_ missed him, as much as it was possible to miss someone who you barely knew, and hadn’t really seen their face, and… well, okay, maybe it didn’t make much sense, but Raleigh had wanted to see Max again. Really, really wanted to see him again. And that counted as missing him, right?

 

 

It sure counted as something.

  

It was not at all what Chuck had been expecting. Instead of a simple yes or no, or even something flirty he got...sincere. Somehow. And somehow he found himself thinking something along the same line. Ohh. Dangerous territory, here.

 

 

He opened a new tab to email and added the guy to his contact list. Just in case. Because apparently internet was shit in Alaska. Which made sense seeing as they all lived in igloos or whatever.

 

 

Maybe a little forward...possibly creepy, but Chuck wasn’t censoring himself tonight. So they have each other on email now, big deal. It didn’t have to mean anything. Right?

 

 

Raleigh blushed when Max said he’d been thinking about Raleigh. It kind of made him feel… happy. Which was silly. It’s not like he knew anything about the guy.

 

  

came the reply. Because it was weird. But he liked it.

 

 

 Raleigh smiled. And decided, what the hell. They’d gotten this far. He pushed the lid of the laptop back further to show his face and his biggest smile. Which he knew from second-hand accounts was pretty enticing.

 

  

Oh shit, Chuck bit his lip. He was hot. He was really hot.

 

“Raleigh...” He said aloud, working over the syllables. Wasn’t that a place? He had no idea if he was saying it right, but it wasn’t like the guy could hear him.

 

Ah, fuck it. He wasn’t a coward. Chuck wet his lips and pushed his camera up, offering a small smile to parry Raleigh’s grin. It might have just been the computer glow, but those were the bluest eyes Chuck had ever seen. Framed with a shock of blonde hair and a face to match his body. It wasn’t fair.

 

  

Holy fuck. Max — no, _Chuck_ , what the hell — was handsome. Really, _really_ handsome. One might say jaw-droppingly so. Strong jaw, glinting eyes under a deep brow, and… dimples. Raleigh wasn’t sure how to deal with those dimples, two small valleys in Chuck’s cheeks that somehow made his face softer and sexier at the same time. Wow.

 

It all felt a little less weird, now that they saw each other’s faces and knew each other’s names. Way better than an anonymous pair of dicks. Raleigh chuckled.

 

  

Chuck snorted, and shifted position a little under the praise, his little smile widening. He didn’t know what it was about the smileys but they were just... cheesy. Which seemed to suit Raleigh from the limited information he had gathered. So what could he do but offer back an exaggerated winky smiley.

 

“You’re such a dork.” He found himself saying.

  

Raleigh saw Chuck’s lips move, and wondered what words they were forming. He could hardly lip-read. And blinked. It’s not like his laptop came without a microphone, right?

 

  

Oh. Busted. But Chuck laughed and leaned forward to pull his keyboard into his lap.

 

  

Skype, right. That probably worked better than Chat Roulette, anyway. And Raleigh was so incredibly done with the site, this was probably the last time he’d ever visit it.

 

 

 

God, what was he doing. Chuck added, the familiar little boing of a new contact request being sent pinging through the speakers. which was a good reminder to scramble for his headphones.

 

 

Just to make sure he had the right contact. Not that there seemed to be many- oh. Raleigh _Becket_.

 

Again, it seemed to suit him. Lyrical in the good ‘ol American sense.

 

‘Chuck Hansen is online’, a cheerful pop-up informed Raleigh. So much for anonymity.

 

But… Chuck was cute. And interesting. So what the hell.

 

Raleigh switched on the microphone on the laptop and called Chuck. The familiar dial tone jingled through the speakers, and then, silence.

 

This was _so_ weird. It was kind of silly that in this day and age Raleigh had never properly videochatted with anyone, but all his friends were at the UAA, and if they wanted to see each other they drove to the uni bar.

 

“So uh… hey,” Raleigh eventually said nervously.

  

“Hey.” He answered, video feed whirring to life. Raleigh wasn’t the only one nervous. Chuck wasn’t the most personable person on his best days. He liked controlled environments where he knew what was expected of him. Where he knew the rules and could _then_ break them. He didn’t like chance. He didn’t like the unknown. And here was Raleigh Becket. A chance. An unknown.

 

He’d like to think the guy’s appearance had nothing to do with it but... that would be a damn lie.

 

“What time is it over there?” A standard question, thick accent resting somewhere in the upper half of his mouth. The trademark of his people.

 

_Whoa_. Raleigh was thankful for his crotch momentarily being out of the webcam’s field of vision. He was pretty sure something stirred just hearing Chuck’s accent. Which was… unmistakably Australian and then rendered twice as hot by Chuck’s own deep, rumbling voice.

 

Raleigh glanced at the clock. It was pretty late, so… just how many hours ahead was Sydney anyway?

 

“Two in the morning,” Raleigh answered. “And, uh, you? Like in the afternoon or something?”

Chuck glanced at the clock.

  

“Just passed eight in the evening.” He drummed his fingers on the desk, chewing on his lower lip. “Puts us..eighteen hours apart.”

 

A small smirk.

 

“Hello from the future.”

  

Crap, there were those dimples again. Raleigh smiled nervously. “Hey.” Was he blushing? He felt like he was blushing. The thumbnail of his webcam feed didn’t really show it, though.

 

“So, um. It’s nice to talk to you,” Raleigh ventured. If by nice you meant almost painfully awkward, he thought.

 

This might be the one time someone was more awkward than Chuck. A feeling he would gather up and cherish for later, inwardly musing about how smooth he had thought Raleigh was on chat. It just goes to show.

 

“Well, we aim to please.”

 

Keep it light. Keep it easy, he thought. Don’t open your mouth and be a spastic.

 

Pretty much his mantra these days.

 

“So.” A beat. “R _aa_ leigh. Just how often were you thinkin’ of me?”

  

Raleigh had trouble keeping the smile off his face. Chuck was pretty good at this sort of thing. In a bar or at a party, Raleigh had no trouble hitting people up — it was almost unconscious, the way he’d pick up their body language, their attitude, all the little tells that told him where to push and pull.

 

But a laptop screen didn’t have any of that, and seeing video was somehow not the same. He wasn’t sure why. Feeling like he’d lost his magical charm was a bit annoying, but Chuck seemed to make up for it.

 

“It’s _Rah_ leigh,” he corrected Chuck with a little smirk, though he definitely liked the way Chuck rolled the R off his Australian tongue.

 

“I dunno… sometimes,” he said. Then chuckled and looked away. “‘kay, maybe a lot, back then.”

 

Raleigh glanced back up at the camera, which was a weird way of making eye-contact, because… well, because it _wasn’t_.

 

“Sorry I kinda left you hanging,” Raleigh said, giving Chuck the little grin he made with his face whenever he typed a winking smiley.

 

“Implying I waited around for you,” Chuck answered almost immediately. Smug in his words and stance. A small, open invitation of banter.

 

“But the least you can do is try to make it up to me ay, Ray.”

 

Chuck was pretty cocky, huh.

 

Raleigh kind of liked it. Most guys he dated were actually a bit too meek, but Raleigh was a tall buff blonde dude, and he either attracted guys who thought Raleigh could be their daddy, or guys who wanted to be Raleigh’s much older, much hairier daddy. _No thanks_.

 

Chuck, on the other hand, was younger, not _that_ hairy, and apparently not that meek either.

 

Raleigh sat back and grinned. “And how do you figure I should do that?”

 

“Mm,” the other replied with a sing-song shrug. “You seem like a clever bloke. I’m sure you can have a brainstorm. Maybe jott some thoughts down.”

 

He had half a mind to suggest picking up where they had left off, but... not yet. It was a little strong to come on like that... slightly rapey. And besides, Chuck liked banter. It would be a shame to cut one of his favorite activities short. Especially with someone who seemed promisingly clever.

 

Huh. Raleigh had expected Chuck to be more forward, considering how things ended before, but maybe it was the whole not being anonymous anymore thing.

 

“You want me to write stuff down?” Raleigh laughed. “All right.” He turned around and glanced at his desk, searching for a pen and some paper, then stretched out to grab it, nearly falling off the bed in the process. And, of course, accidentally mostly on purpose showing off his other sides to the camera.

 

He went back to sit cross-legged in front of the laptop, paper and pen in hand. “Hmm,” Raleigh pondered, “Gotta brainstorm.” He grinned, and actually started to think about what he could do, subconsciously starting to chew on the end of the pen a little in the process. After a minute or so he scribbled down a 1, followed by ‘stripping’, and a 2, followed by ‘flexing’. Hmmm…

 

Oh. So maybe his high hope of a banter partner was going to be dashed, after all. Chuck was about to point out that, no, he didn’t want Raleigh to write anything down he _wanted_ Raleigh to get his dick out, but was quickly distracted with the pen in his mouth. Oral fixation. Yes please.

 

“Don’t hurt yourself, mate.”

 

Raleigh looked up. He’d written down some more items on the list, ranging from creative to daring — jacking off, fingering himself, and the things he could do to Chuck… sure, they weren’t in the same room, but maybe he could talk Chuck through stuff, like he was actually there. It was a long shot, but it also seemed kinda hot if he could pull it off.

 

“‘m ready,” Raleigh said triumphantly. “Pick a number between one and ten.”

 

It would definitely be hot if they could pull it off. Neither of them had done anything like this before. It was daring, and for all the unknown ahead that Chuck really didn’t like... this was okay. So far so good. And really, if it ever did get weird? All he had to do was sign off.

 

This could be a very stupid decision.

 

Well. He was always up for one of those.

 

“Eight.” He answered with a smirk. As though it were a challenge.

 

Raleigh looked at the notepad, and smirked right back.

 

“Eight is I give you a blowjob,” Raleigh said triumphantly.

 

Chuck’s eyebrows shot up, pinned high on his forehead. Logistics aside, he couldn’t help the curl of desire tightening in his gut.

 

“And how, exactly, do you intend to do that?”

  

Raleigh smiled. “My voice and your imagination,” he replied.

 

“Oh...” Chuck’s response was almost breathy as he stared at the screen. He couldn’t help but wonder, if this was eight, then what the hell was ten? Something to look into, but for now he was focusing on the idea of _those_ lips around _his_ cock.

 

Those very... very pink, pouted lips. Jesus. Chuck would be sitting on the edge of his bed, Raleigh kneeling on the floor, mouth open and moaning as Chuck took fist-fulls of blonde hair and pulled him closer, deeper, swallowing him whole –

 

He swallowed, body suddenly very interested in this conversation. Cock twitching, hand moving to absently palm himself.

 

“I have a very active imagination.”

 

A spark of heat traveled south as Raleigh caught the slight tremor in Chuck’s voice. Hey, this was kind of familiar. He could do this sort of thing. Raleigh found himself rapidly getting over this whole monitor-camera-person disconnect. Maybe it wasn’t as different as he’d thought.

 

“That’s good,” Raleigh said, lowering the pitch of his voice. He noticed Chuck was moving his arm a little, and though he could guess, Chuck’s hand was moving around decidedly off-screen. He licked his lips. “Want to show me what I’m working with, Chuck?” He paused. “If that’s okay with you,” he added.

 

Was it okay? The question was almost jarring. Was any of this okay? Was jerking off on the internet with someone you didn’t know at _all_ but still gave your personal information to alright in any real capacity? Probably not. For whatever reason they’d jumped in with both feet. No teasing chat, no feisty emails working up to something like this, just straight up face to face. With voice. With video.

 

Fuck it. Go big or go home, right? That’s what his dad always said and- _NO, Chuck, don’t fucking think about you d-_

 

“Yeah.” Jesus. He had to get out of his head. “Suppose you should know what you’re getting into.” Onto. Ha.

 

It might have been summer in Alaska but that meant Australia was right in the dead of winter. It was nowhere as cold as one might think, but it did mean that Chuck had taken to being fully clothed. Or, rather, hadn’t undressed after getting home. Which was fine. It just meant he had a bit more to play with. Buttons to fiddle open and fabric to pull up and off.

 

It was then he remembered exactly where they had been when Raleigh’s internet died. Chuck smiled and shrugged out of his shirt—a dark plaid button down—and dropped it to the floor before tugging the first button of his jeans open.

 

“Say please.”

 

Raleigh’s heart kind of skipped a beat at the obvious reminder of where they’d left off, and spared a glance at the bars on his internet connection. _Don’t you dare die on me this time_.

 

Raleigh leaned his face closer to the lens, batted his eyelashes and licked his lips with a tempting grin.

 

“Please.”

 

Wow. Just. Wow. Of course, Chuck didn’t know what else he was expecting, but the way Raleigh looked into the camera, the way his voice rolled through chuck’s ear buds like graveled velvet, it was impossible not to be affected. _How are you real?_

 

It sent shocks of excitement through his limbs and goosebumps rose over his arms as the hair stood on end. He didn’t know he could have such a reaction just to someone on Skype but it made sense. He watched porn and this was was better, so he wasn’t about to complain. Instead he smiled and uttered a little “Good boy,” before pulling the other three buttons open and shifting to wiggle free of his trousers. He wouldn’t think on why that was his response. Maybe too many years of dodgy online content and the thrill of Raleigh doing what he’s told. Maybe too many years of rigorously training Max.

 

But it didn’t really matter because there he was. Naked on the internet. Too late now, there was no going back. Better to embrace it.

 

And so he did, lightly stroking himself before his hand settled at the base, thumb applying the smallest bit of pressure to constrict blood flow. It felt nice but it also made everything swell just that little extra bit. Nice and thick. Chuck was by no means small, he liked to think he was slightly above average, but he would take all the help he could get.

 

_Holy fuck_. Nobody had ever called Raleigh anything like that, and, well, he wasn’t expecting the way his body reacted to being called a good boy. Fuck, they were really doing this, weren’t they? Raleigh shivered, one hand gripping the sheets hard.

 

And Chuck. Chuck’s _dick_. Raleigh licked his lips again, subconsciously. It looked good. Hard. Thick. And not, like… not like what he remembered from their first encounter. Not some random dick being flashed to him by some anonymous, faceless dude. This was different.

 

He glanced at Chuck’s face on the video feed. How was he going to start this?

 

“Uh, so… close your eyes?” Raleigh said carefully. “Imagine I’m there with you.”

  

Chuck processed that for a moment before nodding and doing as he was told, laying back in his chair and closing his eyes, letting Raleigh’s voice over take him.

 

“Okay.”

 

He had Raleigh right there with him. The fantasy had moved from the bed back to his chair with this gorgeous piece of American pie between his legs. Breath hot against the tip of his cock.

 

“You’re here. Right here, kneeling.”

  

Raleigh let out a long sigh. Wow, this was way, way hotter than he’d anticipated when he’d written it down. Daring. And it felt a bit wrong, like, you weren’t supposed to do this sort of thing — not with someone you barely knew, not with someone who wasn’t there.

 

“Yeah,” Raleigh said, his voice definitely a lot breathier than a minute ago. His cock throbbed against his thigh, slowly getting harder. “I’m there.” Chuck looked gorgeous, laid back like that, almost… vulnerable. Raleigh was watching him, but Chuck was no longer watching Raleigh. Like Raleigh had the control, now.

 

“I slide my hands up your thighs,” Raleigh said. “Over your hips. I’m, uh…” What was he gonna say next? He couldn’t just go ‘and now I swallow your cock’, that was like, way too fast. He needed to build it up, right? The way he would if Chuck was really here. Shit — now his own imagination was gearing up, too.

 

“Bracing my fingers on the rise of your hips,” Raleigh continued. “Looking up at you. I kiss up along your inner thigh…”

 

Chuck sucked in a breath, hips unconsciously rising, legs parting as far as the arms of his chair would allow. The muscles of his chest and stomach flexed as he did and for a brief moment he thought maybe he could really feel someone kissing him. It was almost… intimate. A blow job was one thing, but the little touches, the little kisses, they were personal. He liked that. Feeling personal.

 

“Your lips are warm,” he mumbled, still holding himself while his free hand wandered across his left thigh.

  

“Mmm,” Raleigh hummed, his gaze gliding over Chuck, seeing his body shift and move. Raleigh’s skin prickled hotly, thinking he was the one making Chuck move like that, the way Chuck’s legs fell open for him…

 

“I… place a kiss at the base of your cock,” Raleigh said softly, blushing fiercely at the last word, like saying out loud made it all _real_. “You’re so hard for me, Chuck.” Raleigh stifled a groan and reached a hand down to rub himself through his shorts. Fuck, he was real hard for this, too.

 

Hearing his name, hearing the tone in Raleigh’s voice prompted a small groan from Chuck as well, eyes fluttering open briefly to look at the screen, another roll of pleasure washing over him.

 

“You’re blushing.”

 

He closed his eyes again and smiled, adding that little piece of visual to their constructed scene.

 

“Ngh’m so hard.” And it was true. Chuck opened his eyes again and briefly leaned forward to pull open the drawer of his desk. It might be embarrassing for someone else to know that’s where he kept a bottle of lube and a box of tissues but right now he didn’t care. And Raleigh wasn’t really in a position to judge him as he popped off the cap and drizzled a line of the clear gel along the length of his cock, shivering as it fell over him.

 

One quick motion had the bottle capped and back in its spot. Another and he was back in his, right hand spreading the lube over himself with smooth, twisted motions, thumb rolling over the head a few times.

 

“Can you take it all?”

 

Raleigh groaned at the sight of Chuck slicking up his own cock and didn’t even try to hide it. “Fuck, that’s so hot,” he mumbled. Raleigh fiercely wished he was there with Chuck right now, for real, running his hands over that smooth, wetted dick, working all sorts of sounds out of him —

 

Not being able to hold back any longer, Raleigh pushed his own shorts down and licked a stripe up his palm before wrapping a hand around his cock. “Oh fuck,” Raleigh gasped, and then kind of remembered Chuck had asked him a question.

 

“I’m gonna try,” Raleigh replied, getting back into the scene. “Kissing up your cock, licking the tip… teasing you nice and slow.”

 

Which earned him a small whine. Chuck imagined a tongue circling his head, his thumb carrying out the motion. He imagined wet and hot and slow… and just how frustrating that would be after a while. How he would grab Raleigh by the hair and urge him to take more.

 

The whine turned into a growl and he suddenly wished his chair had a higher back so he could lay back properly and stop thinking about stupid things like holding his head up.

 

“You’re making me crazy, blondie, hurry up.”

  

Raleigh grinned. “Yeah? Crazy like… maybe you’re running a hand into my hair, pushing me down on your cock?” he breathed, feeling his dick throb in his hand at imagining just that, Chuck making him take it.

 

“Exactly.” He breathed in return, willing himself to get over his verbal hurdles and speak. Not hold on to anything and just let it flow through him. To give Raleigh something to work with.

 

“I’d be soft at first, but you’re teasing me. Your hair is nice. If you keep teasing me I’ll take a fistfull and pull you– pull you right down. Not t-to choke. Unless you wanted.”

 

His fist was picking up momentum. “Some people like that. You’re just so hot I can’t help myself.”

 

Raleigh whined. “Y-yeah,” he stammered. “I, I like that.” What the hell was he saying? He’d never confessed that to anyone. Fuck, he was so hard— and so goddamn close already. How was Chuck even doing this to him?

 

A kind of static, a haze, began to rise up in the back of his mind, and Raleigh fell back against the pillows, bucking up in his own hand. “Feels so good, tasting your dick, sliding into my throat, Chuck…”

  

“You’re amazin’.” He grit out in response, jaw clenching for a moment, lost in the idea of Raleigh’s throat. “Got half a mind to flip you over and fuck you right here on the floor.”

 

Everything was tingling.

 

“But I’ll fuck your face. Is that what you want?”

 

Raleigh’s fist tightened around the base of his cock. Shit, the words that were coming out of Chuck’s mouth — “Fuck, yeah,” he groaned, clawing at the sheets. “I’m so close, fuck…”

  

“Me too. Just. Keep going. I’ve got you by the hair and I’m fucking your face-” Chuck had to stop mid thought, panting, hand moving furiously.

 

“I’m- I need-” What was he trying to say. He didn’t know, he had lost the plot of wherever he was going, brows knit in concentration.

 

“Do you swallow?”

 

Raleigh whimpered. “Y-yeah, yeah, wanna taste y—”

 

There was a loud bang outside his room — the sound of someone slamming the door, his preoccupied mind offered helpfully a second later — and then Yancy’s voice. “Rals? You home?”

 

Fuck. Fuck, fuck, _fuck_ , not _again_! Had he locked the door to his bedroom? No, because he was fucking home alone before and Yancy was gonna stay over at Tendo’s, he’d said — goddammit.

 

Raleigh caught the visual of Chuck lying back, fucking into his own fist, even the small slick sounds the lube made as Chuck’s cock moved through his fingers, and just like that, Raleigh decided — fuck it. Yancy could walk in all he wanted, whatever. They had a lifetime of catching each other doing embarrassing shit, anyway.

 

“Wanna taste your come in my mouth, Chuck, come on,” Raleigh gasped, jacking himself faster in quick, tight strokes. “Almost there.”

 

“Ngh,” Chuck grunted, working himself over good and hard. He was panting and slightly shiny if Raleigh looked hard enough, sweat reflecting across his temples and chest. Bangs beginning to wet across his brow.

 

“That’s right, swallow me. I want you to. I want you to take it a-- ahh _fuuck-!_ ” That was all it had taken for him to push over the edge, cock spitting ribbons against his chest as he came, fisting himself through it. A hard shudder overtook and any words Chuck may had had stacked in his throat gave way to a low, gasping moan. His entire body flexed and for a moment he was floating in pure, raw pleasure. Hot and sticky and mindless.

 

Raleigh heard Chuck’s choked out curse, knew Chuck was coming, and he was so close himself, so fucking close — “Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh ffff—” Raleigh hissed, and felt the spasms start at the base of his cock, balls drawing up, and he groaned loudly as pleasure rose up from the base to the tip, hot and aching and _so fucking good_ —

 

His mind blanked out for a split second, and when it came back, Raleigh grinned, curling up contently on his bed.

 

There were three knocks on the door, and then it opened, Yancy’s head peering through with the biggest, smuggest shit-eating grin Raleigh had ever seen on his brother.

 

“You done, dude?”

 

Raleigh grabbed the nearest heavy object that wasn’t his laptop and threw it at the door, his copy of _Intermediate Microeconomics_ thudding against the wood and landing at Yancy’s feet. Yancy howled with laughter, closing the door in front of him.

 

“Fuck off, Yance!” Raleigh shouted, hurrying to cover himself up. “Asshole.”

 

Only then he pulled his laptop back up from where it had kind of fallen over with all the movement and thrusting, and checked to see if Chuck was still there.

 

He was. Panicked, but still there. Raleigh had started shouting and it knocked Chuck back to reality. Having no idea if Raleigh’s screen was visible, or really what was going on, the first thing Chuck could think to do was hit the ground. Get out of frame and grope for his clothes, using his boxers to mop himself clean.

 

The frame was empty, but the call still connected. So there was that.

 

“Um, hey,” Raleigh mumbled, developing a slight headache at the way reality had come busting through the door in the shape of his obnoxious sibling. “That was my brother, sorry. You there?”

  

“Yeah.” Came the grumbled response as Chuck reemerged. First a hand as it grasp the edge of the desk and pulled up a tousled, slightly sex-stupid Australian.

 

“You need to lock your door, mate.” He paused. “So you live at home?”

 

Raleigh grinned at Chuck reappearing, looking kinda satisfyingly… messy. “Naw, me and him share an apartment,” Raleigh explained. “Starting to regret that decision.”

 

Oh, and his come was splattered all over his sheets. Nice. Raleigh made a mental note to do laundry first thing in the morning.

 

“So, uh…” Raleigh started. What was he gonna say? He was starting to feel painfully sober. Don’t make it awkward, don’t make it awkward. “That was, um. Nice. Good. Right?”

 

Ah, the crushing weight of reality. How… boring.

 

Chuck absently scratched his scalp and slid back into his chair, shirt buttoned completely wrong.

 

“Yeah,” He smiled. And really, it was. “You..give amazin’ head.”

 

Raleigh couldn’t help stupidly grinning at that. He was feeling ridiculously confident somehow. He’d gone and said what he wanted… even though it was kinda weird and scary, and he barely even knew Chuck. It was exciting, intoxicating, even. “You should feel the real thing,” he blurted out.

  

“Come for a visit down under and I will take you up on that.” Fancy that. An actual- not that he hadn’t ever, of course he had- but Raleigh was..something else entirely. And anywhere that thought may have gone was rudely interrupted by a hard pounding on his door.

 

“Chuck, grub’s up. C’mon,” came the muffled command. Though not _so_ muffled that Chuck couldn’t clearly hear it through his headphones. He rolled his eyes, barking “Yeah– okay gimme a sec ol’ man, yeah?”

 

He shot an apologetic smile towards the screen. “Guess I should let you go to bed, ay.”

  

“Uh-huh,” Raleigh said, fake-yawning, “I’m sooooo tired, giving head takes it right out of me.” He flashed Chuck another dumb grin.

  

It was infectious and Chuck found himself returning the smile. “You think you’re tired now..” He glanced at the door and leaned in a little further, face taking up most of the frame.

 

“You have no idea what I would do to you, blondie.”

 

“ _Chuck-_ ”

 

“Okay! Jesus, Hold on for two fucking seconds! You won’t die-” He snapped towards his door before turning back, yet again, to his computer.

 

“Think about it, yeah?” He said and winked. “I’ll talk you through it tomorrow.”

 

Tomorrow? Shit, Raleigh felt his cock twinge at the thought. They were doing this again? Fuck, yeah, they were doing this again. “Yeah,” Raleigh said, grinning. He still had no idea how any of this had happened. Some very strange odds and two horny guys, maybe. “‘Night.”

 

He sighed and closed the lid of the laptop, pulled up his shorts and began to take the sheets off the bed.

 

And of course, Yance chose that moment to come bother him again.

 

“You say goodnight to your boyfriend?” Yancy chuckled.

 

“Haven’t you ever heard of privacy, dude?” Raleigh shot back. He glared. “Are you here to help me with my laundry? Because if not, kindly fuck off.”

 

“Ew, no, thanks,” Yancy said, rolling his eyes. “Now what did I tell you about showing your dong to online creeps?”

 

Raleigh shrugged. “This one’s not a creep.”

 

“Oh yeah? How do I know that?” Yancy said. “Maybe I should get my baseball bat ready. To defend my dear little brother’s chastity.”

 

Raleigh snorted, piling the dirty sheets up on the floor. “That ship has sailed, asshole.”

 

“What’s this?” Yancy replied, clearly intending to continue the obnoxious conversation with his obnoxious presence. “My baby brother, sullied? Oh, dear lord, no! Did you use protection? No — don’t tell me he knocked you up? You’re too young to be a mother!”

 

“Wow, shut up,” Raleigh said, rolling his eyes. “You suck and your comedy routine sucks.”

 

Yancy chuckled. “Whatever, bro,” he laughed. “I’m gonna get my shotgun ready for your baby daddy—”

 

“I’m like point three seconds away from throwing my sheets in your face,” Raleigh said with an evil grin.

 

“Duuuude, how about no,” Yancy grinned, jumped back three feet and closed the door.

 

Raleigh laughed and hoisted the sheets into his dirty laundry basket along with his filthy shorts. He’d shower in the morning, too. It was 3 am, and he was getting pretty tired. At least Yancy had been cool about it. In his own jerkass way. After everything they’d been through, mom dying, dad leaving, and Jaz bailing out to study in Europe, they pretty much just had each other. And not a whole lot they hid from each other, either.

 

He didn’t bother putting on fresh sheets, it was warm anyway, so he grabbed a new pillow and finally collapsed back on the bed. Tucked the laptop under it, and curled up, falling asleep quickly. Definitely not thinking about hot Australian guys or anything.

  

And somewhere across the world there was definitely not an Australian guy sitting awkwardly at dinner thinking about perfect, American lips.

  

It was any luck Chuck lasted through school the next day, tearing home as soon as possible to turn his computer on and see if Raleigh was about. It would be a decent hour in Alaska but there was always the chance he was at school or working..he’d never asked.

 

Come to think of it Chuck didn’t know _anything_ about the guy except his name and that he and his brother shared a flat. And that he had an amazing body and somehow possessed the ability to eyefuck someone through a camera but it didn’t really matter. He wasn’t exactly concerned with Raleigh’s life goals and ambitions.

 

  

Raleigh’s phone vibrated against his thigh. He took the phone out of his pocket, laid it flat on the table and took a bite of his sandwich whilst tapping at the screen.

 

Oh — it was Chuck. He couldn’t exactly voice chat or take his clothes off in the library, but texting was fine, right?

 

 

 

  

  

  

Ah. That did change things slightly.

 

  

Raleigh grinned. He’d kept the list.

 

 

Chuck had picked a fairly high number to begin and wondered is sliding back to the lower ones would be a good idea. He supposed he would have to, eventually. Maybe it was better to hold himself back for a little while longer. Not go right for the grand prize...whatever it might be.

 

 

He didn’t even have to look at the list; the items on it were seared into Raleigh’s memory.

 

  

Oh. Shit. So the numbers had nothing to do with varying degrees of severity. Chuck had just assumed based on the night before but this... this was a hell of a lot more.

 

 

The highest number on the list was definitely… the farthest they could go, Raleigh knew. But the rest was all over the place. He wondered if Chuck had deliberately chosen lower than the night before expecting things to be tamer.

 

 

 

A beat.

 

 

God damn it. What was this guy doing to him.

  

Raleigh replied, then stuffed the phone back into his pocket and closed the book he’d been pouring over, eating the last of his sandwich. He wasn’t going to get any more studying done tonight. And walking across campus with a boner, maybe not preferable.

 

Half an hour later he got home, catching Yancy and Tendo watching some dumb action movie on the couch. Knowing them, it was probably the worst possible movie they could find.

 

“Hey guys,” Raleigh said, walking straight past them to his room, and locking the door behind him.

 

“Have fun jerking off on the internet!” Yancy called out, followed by a mumbled question from Tendo. Eh. Asshole. And if Yancy was going to fuck with him or their internet connection, Raleigh had many ways to take revenge. Yance wasn’t going to risk it. Probably.

 

If they were gonna go for _number five_ then Raleigh was gonna need a little prep, so he got on his phone to send Chuck a quick text.

 

 

Raleigh undressed, headed for the bathroom — and thank god they had two of those and one of them was through his bedroom — and emerged ten minutes later feeling a lot cleaner.

 

Raleigh sat down on the bed, wearing absolutely nothing. Because why bother with any of that, stripping was number one, anyway. Flipped the laptop open and logged into Skype.

 

 

came the quick reply. Chuck had been on for a while and with a promise like that he had been inclined to wait. Patiently. Mind racing with possibilities while he idly scrolled through one of his more frequented selections of adult entertainment.

 

 

Raleigh thought about it. Yancy and Tendo were out there, and he didn’t really care about them hearing him — because he sure as hell had heard _them_ make plenty of embarrassing noises he’d rather delete from his memory — but Chuck might not be cool with that.

 

Raleigh responded, and got up to search his desk for his wireless headset.

 

He probably looked like a total dork with the gadget plastered on his ear, but whatever.

 

 

Fantastic. Chuck hit the call button and took his last split second chance to rearrange his hair. Not that it was styled, but there was always this one bit that stuck out funny and- and Raleigh answered just as he managed to pat the bastard back down against his scalp.

 

“Hello, beautiful.” He purred, unable to contain his smile, dimples flashing as he willed himself to come across much smoother than he felt. Shit, this was exciting. Probably the most exciting thing he had ever done. Of this nature, anyway. Cliff jumping had been awesome but it wasn’t the same.

 

Though, to be fair, there were some adrenaline inducing moments he could draw parallels between. Leaping into the unknown. Having no real safety net but belief in himself that it would be okay.

 

Raleigh couldn’t contain his big smile as soon as Chuck’s face popped up on his screen. There were those freaking dimples again. He wondered if Chuck knew the effect they had on people, christ.

 

Should he ask Chuck about his day, stuff like that?

 

Seemed kind of superfluous, all things considering.

 

“So, um, I got these,” Raleigh started, and grabbed the three toys he’d chosen. A great way to out himself as a huge pervert to Chuck, too. But he figured Chuck might already have his suspicions.

 

One was a small, black plug, the second a bigger, purple one, and the third a thick purple prostate massager. Raleigh especially liked that one.

 

“Which one do you, uh, want me to play with?” he said, definitely aware of how fast and hard he was blushing.

  

Chuck blinked at the screen, suddenly feeling rather vanilla in his own life experiences.

 

“What’s that last one?” Because, he knew what a butt plug was but. There was literally only so much you could do with one, right?

 

He licked his lips unconsciously, glancing towards his door to make sure he’d locked it. His dad wouldn’t be home from work for a while and Max was in the back garden so he really was well and truly alone but he couldn’t help but want to double check. Maybe he should remind Raleigh to do the same.

  

“It’s a prostate massager,” Raleigh explained. He hadn’t really considered that being younger and still living at home, Chuck probably didn’t have the knowledge that Raleigh had about sex. Come to think of it, he really didn’t know just what the extent of Chuck’s experience was _at all_. What if he was moving way too fast for the kid? Chuck was 17. Raleigh’s own sex life had been a real hit-and-miss journey, with being bullied for being gay and being a chubby, pimply kid, until he’d hit his 20s and started working out, his metabolism finally getting its shit together. Then he caught up in like 2 years, dating and having sex with so many guys he might’ve lost count a little.

 

“Um, hey,” Raleigh started. “Are you, like…” A virgin? That sounded too patronizing. Plus, Raleigh didn’t really believe in losing anything when you had sex. Just gaining fun and experience. And STDs if you were a dumbass about it. “I mean, I have a lot of experience with this stuff.”

  

Chuck could feel his neck burning from the question, caught off guard and floundering slightly before he could slam up a front.

 

“I know what I’m doing.” He answered, going on the defensive. “Just haven’t got one of those, Christ.”

 

He could play it off like that, right? He was just unfamiliar with that particular toy? Chuck wasn’t a virgin, but he’d only ever had a handful of encounters. Some with men, some with women. He hadn’t ever really sat down to stick himself under a label. He just figured that he liked what and who he liked and that was that.

 

Mako had said there was a name for it during one of their rare conversations when she and her father were over for a visit, but the appeal of a label for being labelless was more than lacking. He guessed, if anything, he was just a slut. A slut who has had sex maybe seven times.

 

Whatever.

 

“All right,” Raleigh grinned. He brought the toy closer to the camera. “So do you want the sex ed version of how it works, or… maybe I should just show you.”

  

Well, see? How hard was that?

 

Chuck swallowed and wet his lips again, shifting in his seat, trying desperately to keep cool. Like this was no big deal at all. It was, in fact, a very big deal.

 

He nodded, lightly chewing on his bottom lip.

 

“Yeah, I’m- I’m a better visual learner.”

  

Raleigh flashed a smile and sat back, grabbing the bottle of lube he kept underneath his bed — it’s kind of where he kept a lot of things — and the towel he’d brought from the bathroom. This time he wasn’t going to risk another mess of sheets.

 

Somehow, after what he and Chuck did the night before, he didn’t feel so nervous anymore. Like they’d crossed this boundary so it was okay now. And if Chuck was comfortable with watching, Raleigh was comfortable with showing.

 

Raleigh positioned the laptop at the end of his bed, fidgeting with it to make sure it was secure enough, eventually discarding the pillow underneath it and substituting it with a stack of books for a flatter, more stable surface. Then wobbled the lid back and forth until he was satisfied with the camera image, showing most of his bed.

 

“Sorry, had to make sure you get the best view,” Raleigh said, giving Chuck a wink, crawling back on the bed.

 

“I’m gonna get started now,” he added, his cheeks flushing a little. He wasn’t hard yet, but he knew the toy, and that was gonna change quickly.

 

Raleigh turned his back towards the camera and flopped over on his stomach, propping his ass up towards the laptop. That would… definitely give Chuck the best view.

 

Raleigh popped the cap off the bottle of lube and slicked up the toy, arching his head to look back at where Chuck was watching him. He licked his lips and then brought his hands down to his ass, one holding the toy, the other searching his hole with his fingers. Bringing the two together, he gently pressed the tip of the massager against the tight ring of muscle, making sure that the other inwardly curved nub of the toy was facing downwards, towards his balls.

 

Raleigh took a deep breath and relaxed, remembering to take his time with this; pushing the toy inside too fast would just hurt, and then it wouldn’t feel good later on. Unlike fucking, where he could totally get off being pounded to the point of pain.

 

He turned his head back to the foot of the bed again, trying to gauge Chuck’s reaction.

 

Which was awe, mostly. A little shock, but mostly awe.

 

“Jesus..” It was almost a hiss. Was this really happening? He supposed it was and resisted the urge to rub at his eyes. It was unbelievably hot. Never in his life had someone put on a show for him. Never like this. Like, someone once did a little sexy dance thing but this? With a toy and his ass _right there_.

 

“You’re so fuckin’ hot.”

 

What he wouldn’t give to be there right now. Get his face right there, touch and lick and spread him open with his fingers, his cock, maybe-- maybe even tongue. It was a goal. And the thought combined with the image in front of him drained the blood from his head and reassigned it straight to his cock, strained as it was against his jeans which would have to go _soon_.

 

Chuck’s voice was right there in his head, courtesy of the headset, and Raleigh bit his lip, Chuck’s praise sending a shiver of excitement right down his spine.

 

He twisted the toy a little, and pushed it up with a bit more force, then let out a soft moan as the tip slipped inside.

 

The tip was the biggest; now he just had to slowly slide it further in…

 

“Aahh! Oh, oh fuck,” Raleigh cried out, trying to keep his voice down. He was never quite prepared for the way that little massager got sucked in and brushed right against his prostate. The sudden surge of pleasure went right into his cock, hardening it against the rough fabric of the towel underneath.

 

“The, the way it works is,” Raleigh panted, trying to explain it to Chuck anyway whilst he could still think, or say words and such, “it kind of moves on its own when you clench, so — nghh!” He was clenching too tight and the head of the toy dragged hard over the most sensitive spot in his body. “F-fuck…”

 

If Chuck was in shock before, he didn’t know what he was now. Raleigh’s rasping, his cries going directly into his ear through his own ear buds. He watched entranced as the other boy, no, man moved in front of him, turning flushed and gasping to narrate. It was like a magic switch had been flipped. Just like that.

 

Note to self, Chuck thought, buy one of these immediately.

 

Before he even knew what he was doing he had his trousers unbuttoned and tugged down around his hips, his side drawer open, lube in hand, and then dick in hand. Hard as a rock. He whimpered with the first firm stroke.

 

“Pretend I’m there,” he said, hoarse before clearing his throat. “Pretend that’s me.”

 

Raleigh managed a small chuckle, then groaned as the action moved the toy around again. “Feels so good, Chuck,” he gasped, and that was the last thing he was able to say, the sensations of the massager rolling around quickly making him lose his sanity.

 

He clenched his hole in slow, soft pulses, taking deep breaths to handle the waves of pleasure that began to roll through his body, his jaw going slack to let out all the moans and cries his body needed to make in response. He was rock hard, starting to grind into the mattress with languid rolls of his hips, whining and gasping.

 

The feeling was just about indescribable, the way the toy seemed to move on its own, reacting to the movements of his body by pressing down, grinding back and forth over his prostate, and it was totally possible to come untouched just by building up the pleasure in the right way. Slow, steady, not too much at once — that could actually hurt, overstimulate you, Raleigh knew from experience.

 

He clenched a bit tighter and faster and bit down hard on the pillow, stifling his scream in the down and soft fabric. God, it felt so amazing, and he hoped Chuck was watching this, enjoying this. He couldn’t possibly feel as blissed out as Raleigh, though.

 

It was inspiring, beautiful to watch as Chuck fucked hard into his fist, eyes wide, lips plushed and parted, a blush creeping up over his chest and neck and cheeks. He was panting softly, Raleigh’s cries in his ears and worked himself furiously, eyes glued to the screen.

 

Were he perhaps more suave he would have something dirty to whisper in Raleigh’s ear, but he was hardly keeping focus much less thinking up imaginative vocal prompts. Though—  one did spring to mind.

 

“Imagine I’ve got that in you and I’m sucking you off. Right like you are.”

 

In his own head that would be the only way to make this situation better. To be with him in person, Raleigh’s cock down his throat, screaming from the double sensation. Chuck had no idea what this toy of Raleigh’s was like but he could make an educated guess based on the way he was grinding into the bed and crying into his pillow.

 

A loud moan at Chuck’s words was all Raleigh could manage, writhing on his sheets, his cock hard and leaking. He knew he could drag this on forever, just by staying still until he calmed down and then clenching again, but finding any kind of self control at this point was nearly impossible. Raleigh tightened his hole once more, then relaxing, the movement making the toy grind against his prostate in a firm, delicious circle. Just a few more of those and he was gonna come.

 

Raleigh’s cries went up a pitch as he clawed at the sheets, thrusting his ass up towards the camera. “‘m so close,” he whined.

 

“Don’t stop,” Chuck rasped, swallowing hard to wet his dry throat.

 

Raleigh whimpered and as if given permission, he let go, his hole grasping the toy and then relaxing again, over and over, and he imagined Chuck’s mouth on his dick, Chuck fucking him with the toy, Chuck pulling out the toy, replacing it with his cock —

 

Raleigh let out a loud cry and slammed his hips into the mattress as he started to come, biting hard into the pillow again as his own thrusts made the toy smash into his prostate. “Fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck,” he hissed, trying to reach a hand down to get the toy out, it was too much stimulation, he was going to — “Aaaaahh! Fuuuck, oh god,” Raleigh cried, another jolt of pleasure bordering on pain shooting through his body from the toy grinding and moving inside him. "Oh yeah, fuck me, fuck me, fuuuuuck — "

  

It was beautiful. Jaw dropping and lewd as fuck, but beautiful. Raleigh moved without control, raw and pure. The noises he made were muffled but still fed right into Chuck’s ear and he couldn’t help but shiver and groan.

 

This was all for him.

 

Raleigh was doing this for him. A private show and front row seats and an all access pass. It made his hair stand on end and watching him lose it completely, hearing him curse as Chuck worked himself over pushed him right over the brink.

 

“S-shit- _Raleigh-_ ” He wheezed, crushing his eyes closed as he lost focus on the world around him as orgasm rose and slammed into the front of his brain as he came. He didn’t bother to choke his own cry back, just shuddered and rode it out with _fuck me, fuck me_ in his ears. It was the second time he’d come to Raleigh Becket. The second time he’d covered himself with ropes of his own cum imagining that body around him, and he prayed to any deity that might (but probably not) exist that there would be another after this. And another. And another.

 

This could get addictive.

 

Oh well.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [CYBERSEX INTENSIFIES]

Raleigh figured he must’ve gone through the motions in his post-orgasmic haze, cleaning himself and the toy and saying goodbye to Chuck and then crashing in bed.

 

He had dreamt. Really intense dreams, about Chuck being there, Chuck doing all sorts of things to him…

 

So maybe he was thinking about Chuck a _lot_. That didn’t mean anything. And he was on the other side of the world. They were just messing around, right? Nothing serious. Getting off on webcam was really fucking hot, that was all.

 

He wondered if Chuck would be up for another… round, or something like that.

 

Somewhere during the morning he grabbed his phone and texted Chuck. Raleigh still couldn’t get the hang of the time difference, but he figured Chuck would answer him whenever he was awake or something.

 

 

Chuck got the notification at half four in the morning, his phone pinging with Skype notifications into the darkness. Alas, he didn’t hear it.

 

It did, however, make for a nice surprise when he woke up, and he smiled lightly—rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He found he liked the idea of someone thinking about him.

 

 

His cock twitched just thinking about it, the mental image of Raleigh and his toy stirring his already present morning wood. Unfortunately, it wasn’t going to happen. Not tonight in any case.

 

 

Early in the afternoon Raleigh finally received a text back, and stared at his phone with a slight frown, a nagging sense of disappointment in his stomach. He’d really hoped to see Chuck that evening. Oh well — it’s not like they didn’t have a Real Life of their own. Yeah. But, a game? Chuck played sports? Duh, where else would a 17-year-old get that kind of body, unless he was obsessively working out at the gym. And there was a nice mental image — _focus, Rals_.

 

 

 

came the answer a minute later. A simple enough answer.

 

 

Rugby, huh. Like American football without all the extra padding. The sport wasn’t very popular up in Alaska — the proximity to lots of snow and ice and Canada made the ice hockey league the state’s main sport. Of which he was in the team. So.

 

 

At this point, Chuck could google him, right? If he didn’t know already, Raleigh’s face in the hockey team would be the first hit in the search results.

 

 

Chuck smiled and raised an eyebrow as he tugged his jeans on and rolled about getting ready for school. Hockey, nice. True to prediction he did look up the team and gave a low whistle. Sure enough, there he was. Raleigh Becket, number 11.

 

 

Was that a stupid idea? Probably. Did it stop him? No.

 

Raleigh caught Chuck’s message and kind of froze. Fuck — he hadn’t thought about that. He was a fucking _moron_. What if this shit made the press? Sure, he was out and proud and gay and supported by his teammates because this was the goddamn 21st century, but wanking off with a teenager online was… shit. He was kinda panicking.

 

 

 

Chuck answered, huffing as he wedged himself into his boots and shouldered his rucksack.

 

 

He hadn’t even considered it. Way to kill the mood. Way to assume he was the kind of guy that would. But then again, Raleigh didn’t know him. For all he knew he might be the kind to sell a story to the tabloids for a fistful of pretend American Monopoly money.

 

 

 _Holy shit_. Maybe ‘love’ was just some Australian expression, a casual pet name or something, but Raleigh felt the word go from his head straight down his spine to his dick, hot and fierce. Jesus. And Chuck seemed genuinely pissed off. Smooth, Rals, real smooth.

 

 

Well, that wasn’t so hard was it. Chuck smirked to himself and quickly added the contact on his way out the door.

 

 

And he did. It had been annoying at first but if he was being logical, and he liked to think he was, it was made sense and he couldn’t really be mad. Besides, he sort of liked the idea that Raleigh was a big deal. Like his fame was somehow extra validating. Like Chuck was someone special because Raleigh chose to talk to him.

 

Just to make sure there wasn’t any lingering drama he stopped in the hall, pulled up his shirt and flexed for a picture. In the light of day Raleigh could get a clear picture of his..extracurricular partner. Somewhere around six foot and boyish but toned with a strong jaw and broad shoulders that tapered to a narrow waist and hips. He wore a graphic tee but the image was impossible to make out from the way he was tugged it up to expose his abs. A little dusting of hair worked its way down and disappeared into his low-slung jeans, again, black. The waistband of his boxes just peeked out and from the way he was holding the camera Raleigh could see him smirking right down the barrel of the lens—hair ruffled, dimples on full display, a fine smattering of freckles across his nose and cheeks.

 

Jesus fucking Christ. He was going to need a moment. Or five. Raleigh stared at the photo on his phone screen in awe. It should be illegal for anyone to look that good. Especially with a crappy cellphone camera. That waist, those hips… that trail of hair going down from Chuck’s belly button. Raleigh would love to run his fingers and tongue down that trail, nudging his nose against Chuck’s crotch, working those jeans down and taking in the scent of Chuck’s musk as his cock hardened under Raleigh’s lips —

 

 

 

 

came the reply. That was the answer Chuck had been hoping for.

 

 

It was a lovely morning ego boost. He had the feeling having Raleigh in his pocket was going to be very interesting. Distracting, but interesting. And really, he could use a little distraction from the monotony of school. Being a year ahead didn’t make it any less boring, just more anxious.

 

The drive was short and he parked in his usual spot, sauntering up to the building a healthy fifteen minutes before his first class. There, waiting in _her_ usual spot, was Mako Mori. Her father was in town for a few months and she was therefore dragged along. The stay hadn’t been short enough to get her out of school so they had enrolled in the high school on base until Mr. Pentecost’s business was taken care of and they left again. No big deal, these things happened all the time. This was maybe her fifth time in as many years. She may as well be an honorary Aussie.

 

“Mornin’, Maki.” Chuck whistled as he joined her. She crinkled her nose in response and extended one of the two polystyrene coffee cups she was holding. Chuck took one with a smile and a nod of thanks.

 

“Maki is food.” She said, hoping maybe after the hundredth time he might give the nickname up.

 

“And you are delicious.”

 

Mako snorted and rolled her eyes, turning to walk with him inside.

 

“You are looking well.”

 

“Not so bad, yourself,” He answered, knowing it was deflection, but he didn’t intend it that way. And what was a bit of casual flirting between friends. She had known him long enough by now to know there was nothing behind it. They had fooled around a little in the past but came to the mutual decision that they were better off as friends. Their fathers seemed to be both mutually relieved and slightly disappointed when they’d broken it off.

 

“Nah, I feel well. Good, I mean.” His mind automatically went to Raleigh and the sight of him on all fours with a toy in his ass, quivering and crying out his name—fuck. He took a sip of coffee to steady himself. It wasn’t _good_ coffee, but it was coffee all the same and Mako knew his secret weakness for sweet and creamy.

 

Just like Raleigh.

 

_Fuck._

 

“Good,” Mako said, interrupting his train of thought. “Today’s game is a big one, right?”

 

“Yeah, we’re playing the Army brats. It’s gonna be intense.”

 

“Mmm...” Mako couldn’t say she cared that much for Rugby but it seemed to surround her from all sides and as Chuck was her friend she wanted to support him.

 

“You gonna come? Home game.”

 

“I will consider it. Are you still on the bench?” The smile she gave was positively wolfish.

 

“Oi! It’s not my fault that asshole got in the way. I didn’t go anything and got benched for no reason!”

 

“You punched him in the neck, Chuck.”

 

“Um, _no_ , his neck hit me in the fist,” He corrected and opened his locker to shove his books and rugby kit inside. He grabbed the stuff he needed for Calculus and closed it again with a sharp clang. Okay, so maybe he was still a little bitter from his last game. “ _Anyway_ , no, I’m not benched. You’re a pal, Mako, cheers.”

 

The warning bell rang and she shrugged, backing down the hall and mimicking a cheerleader.

 

“I’ll bring my pom-poms!” Sarcasm abounded.

 

“Whatever!” he answered, grinning and flipping the bird as she walked away.

 

Like he cared. Only he did. A lot. Mako was a good friend and he held a great deal of respect for her. Moving around was never easy and she always managed to keep on top of everything and then some. She also put up with all his shit, or rather, totally didn’t put up with any of his shit. He couldn’t get away with anything around her and while it was annoying, deep down he thanked her for it. It was selfish, but he often wished they would just call it quits and settle here. At least until Mako finished school. But they weren’t in charge of their lives in that respect.

 

Still, he hauled himself to class and settled at his spot somewhere in the middle, sticking his phone on silent and drawing it out to check WhatsApp for any new messages.

 

 

Raleigh grinned at Chuck’s text message. He was getting home early today, so there was plenty of opportunity to… come up with some creative photos.

 

But seeing as how Chuck was being impatient, Raleigh went into the men’s room, into a stall, and halfway undressed. After all, dropping your pants in a stall was totally normal behavior. He hitched his shirt up to his armpits, switched on his phone’s front camera and waved it around in front of him until he was satisfied with the view — no face, just his torso, all naked muscle from hours and hours of training and practice, and then just barely a glimpse of his pubes and the base of his cock. Because he could be a tease, if he tried, and all.

 

 

Raleigh texted, and attached the photo to his text.

 

_Babe_

 

The word sent a little shiver down his back and across his shoulders. Chuck smiled to himself and tapped on the image for full size and ooft. _Ooft_. Now they were talking. Somehow, math was no longer important in any capacity and there was the burning need to get home or at least somewhere private.

 

 

Idiot. God damn sausage fingers. He was too excited. Chuck had to take a breath and scrubbed a hand through his hair.

 

“God damn it—”

 

“Excuse me, Chuck?”

 

He snapped back into reality and looked up. The teacher was looking back. Oh, he realized. “No, Mrs. Treacher. I wasn’t raising my hand. Sorry.”

 

“No?”

 

“I just. Uh. Really hate parametric equations?” he answered looking sheepish, hating to be called out when he didn’t know the answer to whatever it was she was talking about, too distracted by Raleigh and the accompanying scenarios his imagination was now supplying. She gave him a sharp look and one or two of his classmates shared a small giggle. He sank lower in his desk.

 

“Right, as I was saying...”

 

God, he couldn’t wait to graduate. He was so done. So so very done.

 

 

Raleigh was on his way home, going into the parking lot, when his phone vibrated against his thigh. He grinned as he read the message. Fuck, this was so hot. Suddenly his days didn’t seem so boring anymore — it felt like there was a constant tension in his body, a thrill, like even the slightest brush on his skin would cause him to shiver.

 

He tapped his car keys to unlock the car from a few feet away, then got in, and was about to slide the keys into the ignition lock when he paused, and looked around. The parking lot was kind of empty. And it would take him a little time to get home, hoping Yance or Tendo wouldn’t be around to bother him…

 

His jeans were starting to feel a little tight.

 

Raleigh grabbed his phone again.

 

 

Chuck vaguely wondered if that was a Deliverance reference but let it go before he could even try to think about it.

 

 

He answered, setting a scene in his head. 

 

 

He wondered if, in an attempts to keep it more true to life, he should confess his lack of experience in this department. He had said he knew what he was doing but “knew what he was doing” translated into reality as “watched a lot of porn.” Sure, he’d been with a few people but he had always, for the most part, devoted himself to his studies and sports. He’d had sex but only ever with girls and as for guys... well. He’d thought about it a whole lot and had received exactly one drunken blow job in the bathroom of a party earlier in the year.

 

Admitting as much would make him vulnerable but it was already pretty clear that Raleigh knew a hell of a lot more about... all of this stuff. Maybe he’d like it? Maybe he’d pull the plug. Chuck wasn’t quite sure if he wanted to risk it or not. Maybe were this a real situation but... nah. Better not to risk it.

 

 

Raleigh smiled, and settled in, pushing the front seat chair back, relaxing. Locked the car doors, took off his jacket and hung it in front of the window — just in case. It didn’t really obscure much, but it helped. He undid the button and zipper on his jeans and reached a hand down, rubbing his half-hard dick through the fabric of his boxers. Yeah, this was going to be good. Though there weren’t many things that could make him scream the way that little massager did. Chuck was ambitious.

 

 

 _Mine_ , Chuck thought and grinned to himself, glancing around quickly to make sure he was on the right page of his textbook before sinking back into his phone. _Ohh, I am gonna eat you alive._

 

Somewhere deep down a curl of possession knotted in his gut. Tight. Insanely so. Which was a little ridiculous given the nature of their... arrangement... but true all the same. Oh god this was dangerous but he didn’t have the sense to realize. Or if he did, he didn’t take any steps to stop himself.

 

 

It felt good to say. It felt good to type. Exciting. It burnt.

 

 

This was so dirty. Jesus this was so dirty. He could get in so much shit for this but he couldn’t stop, mind racing to put his words together in a combination that would be sexy or pleasing. Chuck didn’t think of himself as much of a writer but he supposed he would have to learn.

 

 

Raleigh groaned. Impatiently, he pushed his boxers down with his free hand, freeing his cock, and gasped as he wrapped his hand around his aching length. Fuck, just the thought of Chuck being all over him, lips and teeth and nails —

 

 

Ah _fuck_ , he really should _not_ be doing this in class. Chuck shifted slightly in his seat and shrugged out of his hoodie to place it on his lap. No big deal. Nothing to see there, move along.

 

 

This was getting easier. At least a little bit. He could almost hear Raleigh’s voice in his head, almost see his eyes through the screen, blue as ever, pink lips pouted as he begged. _Please, Chuck. Suck my cock._

 

He had to bite his cheek to suppress a groan.

 

 

Chuck wasn’t sure exactly how to articulate that and hoped it would do. Again, mental note to look this kind of stuff up.

 

Raleigh licked his lips, then brought his hand up to make it as wet with spit as possible. Wished he had lube around, but he didn’t exactly have the habit of just carrying lube wherever he went. He was promiscuous, but not _that_ much of a slut. He liked to think, anyway.

 

He turned the front camera of his phone on again and positioned it low, in front of his dick — like the view Chuck would have if he was between Raleigh’s legs, ready to suck him off.

 

 

Raleigh added the photo and tapped the ‘send’ icon.

 

And receiving it was one of the single, sexiest moments of Chuck’s life. He had been thinking that a lot lately, but each moment was hotter than the last. Raleigh was making and then breaking his own records one after another and it was starting to break Chuck’s brain. But even if it was sending him round the bend he found he didn’t much care. He’d encourage it. He could be well and truly fucked and still wouldn’t stop because this? Whatever this was? Was totally worth it. He glanced around quickly to make sure no one had seen his little present before answering. Part of him wanted to go to the toilet to finish this in private but there was no real way to _get_ there without someone seeing his erection.

 

 

Chuck wet his lips before continuing on.

 

  


 

Was this how you described a blow job? Shit. The learning curve here was huge and it wasn’t really like he could draw on past experiences. Jenny Winters had given him a blow job but she’s bitten him half way through by accident and he pretty much stayed away from her mouth after that. She’d had braces and forgotten to take her rubber bands out in their haste to do the deed before they got caught. It had snapped and his vision went white and the world went sideways as he screamed in pain. It was horrible. He still twitched whenever he saw rubber bands and he and Jenny hadn’t been able to look each other in the eye since. He didn’t really even know the guy he’d hooked up with at that party. Ben? Maybe? It probably didn’t matter but now Chuck was kicking himself that he hadn’t paid much attention to what the guy was doing, only that it had felt _amazing_. Though how was he supposed to know he should have been taking notes for sexting with a semi-pro American hockey player three months later.

 

 

Raleigh didn’t need a whole lot to know what Chuck meant. He’d wet his hand with more spit, trying to get the feel of Chuck’s mouth on him, getting his mind to take him to that scene. It felt so good, thinking about Chuck holding him down, teasing him like that. Fuck, and he just wanted to…

 

 

Chuck ran his hand through his hair, lightly curling it into a fist. Lightly pulling. Just to see if he liked it. He did. He imagined being on his knees with this Adonis laid out beneath him. He imagined that gorgeous, fat cock in his mouth and what it might be like to take him all the way down. What it might be like for Raleigh to fist his hair and cry out and fuck his throat good and raw. The look on his face when he came and Chuck swallowed without hesitation. The look he’d have when Chuck finally pulled back flushed and gasping. Maybe Raleigh would kiss him. Maybe he could crawl the length of Raleigh’s body and nestle in at his side and they would share mewling kisses, his cock pressed against Raleigh’s thigh. Maybe Raleigh would take him in hand and smile and then slide down to trade places. And Raleigh would know what he was doing. Raleigh wouldn’t bite him and he would know exactly how to handle him. Chuck knew without a doubt, without the slightest hesitation that Raleigh would give amazing head. Amazing, life altering, religious experience kind of head.

 

 

He answered once he shook himself free of his little daydream, jeans now painfully tight.

 

 

But what else to say. Perhaps showing a little bit of vulnerability wouldn’t be such a bad thing.

 

 

Raleigh’s hand flew to the base of his cock, pinching hard. He was gonna come at those words alone, otherwise. Just the mental image of Chuck sitting on his knees in front of Raleigh, so eager to take care of him, asking him to be gentle, trusting him.

 

And he would. He’d never just push Chuck’s head down and make him gag like that’s how he was gonna learn to swallow cock. He’d guide him through it, inch by inch, showing Chuck how to practice with his own fingers, how to gulp past his gag reflex, how to breathe and relax his jaw and throat. All the tricks Raleigh had picked up over the years. He’d teach Chuck to deep-throat him, take his dick all the way, first slow, then rougher and harder as Chuck would get used to doing it.

 

 _Fuck_ he was going to come real soon. How fucking ridiculous was that? He was lying back in his car jacking off and somehow words on a small phone screen made his dick so hard he nearly wanted to cry. Raleigh’s hand tightened further around the base, wanting to draw it out, wanting to hang on to that delicious tension.

 

 

Raleigh wrote, and thank fucking god he had a hands-free set so he could just tap away at the screen without having to hold the phone in his hand, too.

 

 

 

And just what were you supposed to say to that.

 

 

 

Well, Chuck reasoned, it was true. But that didn’t give Raleigh much to work with.

 

 

He just wanted to stay there, slowly bobbing, slowly learning and practicing until he could take all of Raleigh down. He wanted to know what that was like. What Raleigh really did taste like. Chuck rolled his tongue around inside his mouth, jaw set firmly for fear a noise might escape his lips.

 

 

Raleigh groaned loudly. Oh yeah, he’d love that. To press Chuck’s toned, but still so young body down onto the mattress, to make him feel so good he’d lose his mind.

 

 

“Fuck…” Chuck swore under his breath. Thankfully his teacher hadn’t heard but a few of his classmates had and swapped glances. Chuck was was normally a little less... about to have a seizure.

 

“Hey, man...” The guy to his right whispered, leaning over to swat at his arm. “Are you okay? You’re like... bright red and breathing loud.”

 

“Shit, am I?” He asked back, keeping his voice low. Chuck hadn’t realized before now but he was holding his phone with something close to a death grip. He’d been alone in his own little world. Well, not _alone_ but he sure as hell wasn’t in math class. “I uh... sorry.” there wasn’t much he could say and gave a small, vague hand gesture, still holding his phone. Mark, Chuck thought. He hadn’t really spoken to him all that much but the guy seemed decent enough. Cute, too.

 

“Just got, uh, bit of news. No drama. I’m good.”

 

Fuck you, Raleigh.

 

Chuck glanced at the wall clock and inwardly sighed seeing there wasn’t much time left. It left him with the problem of just how, exactly, he was planning on getting to his next class but he would cross that bridge when he got to it. For now, there was a much more pressing question to answer.

 

 

Chuck smirked and continued after a moment because _Christ_ , Raleigh you can’t just bring rimming into the equation just like that. Right?

 

 

For some reason, that made Raleigh laugh out loud. Yeah, he could make Chuck see God, and every other deity he could possibly imagine. Just wasn’t sure God would want to see them.

 

Raleigh spat on his hand again, giving himself a few long, tight strokes, and groaned. So close.

 

 

 

Chuck answered after a moment, trying to remember what he looked like to other people. He needed to calm down and soon.

 

 

He’d sent it before he had the chance to edit his brain and come up with something a little less... frantic. Close to home.

 

Raleigh jumped up so fast he nearly hit his head on the car roof. Chuck was _in class_? The _whole freaking time_!? He briefly felt guilty about all the filth he’d sent Chuck’s way, before considering the picture that must be happening somewhere in a highschool in Sydney — a flushed, breathy Chuck, trying desperately to hide his full, almost painful erection from his classmates, barely paying attention to class, checking his phone, maybe even risking having it taken away. And then trying to get out of class when the bell rang, trying to make it to the men’s room with a boner.

 

It was both hilarious and arousing.

 

Raleigh was still rock hard, still trying to keep himself on edge, a feeling that was exquisite and mind-numbing by itself. He usually didn’t have the patience for edging, but he wanted to wait, wanted to see Chuck come, like maybe Chuck could send a photo or a video… hell, Raleigh would settle for just the sound of Chuck’s sweet moans as he climaxed.

 

His hand wrapped tight around his shaft and balls again. Goddamn, so fucking close for that kid.

 

 

The words thundered through his head as he read them and Chuck couldn’t quite stop the short whine that escaped his clenched jaw. It would have been heard by just about everyone were it not for the kindness of the universe that the bell rang a split second before causing thirty five teenagers to stuff their books into their bags and race out into the hall. Chuck moved a little slower in that it was actually painful to navigate himself, but he gathered his things and attempted to slyly tuck himself into his waistband as he stood.

 

 

He quickly typed and hauled out towards the nearest bathroom which, by merciful chance, happened to be the single unit disabled toilet.

 

“Oh thank god,” He breathed and muscled his way through the sea of people, slipping in and locking it behind him. He was gonna lose his mind. Raleigh Becket was gonna drive him insane. Chuck barely waited to put his materials down before he was tugging at his jeans, spitting into his hand and wrapping it around his cock. He gave a whimper of release and leaned back against the wall, eyes closed with his head back, furiously pumping himself.

 

Fuck! Fuck, fuck, _fuck_ —

 

Somewhere in the back of his mind he was reminded that Raleigh was waiting on him and he dug his phone out with his free hand, typing rapid without care for his accuracy.

 

 

He needed direction as he was rapidly losing the ability to make that decision on his own but he did remember Raleigh asking to see his face.

 

 

Raleigh could practically hear the rush in Chuck’s voice as his eyes went over the message. Boy was real close, too.

 

 

Raleigh took the phone off the hands-free set and held it in front of him. Maybe a little weird to take a picture just as he was coming, but he was sure it was gonna be really hot.

 

Likewise, Chuck didn’t know how he felt about taking a picture of himself in that position. He worried about having to pose or maybe dropping his phone and slipping. The solution, came to him in the form of video and as luck would have it the bathroom was host to a full length mirror. Chuck shoved his jeans down around his hips and tugged his shirt up a little bit, moving to position himself against the wall but in front of the mirror, and quickly toggled his phone into video.

 

“H-hey babe,” he breathed, looking into the camera through his reflection, already stroking himself, already so close to release. Flushed and panting, he closed his eyes for a moment as though he were completely ready to let go, swallowing hard and licking his dry lips. There was a logical part of him that was screaming not to do this, but the time to listen had come and gone.

 

“You do this to me.” He panted, voice low so that no passersby might hear but the phone could still clearly could. “ _Raleigh._ ” Needless to say he didn’t last too long in his race against the clock, rolling his hips and biting back moans of pleasure. He felt like a caged animal as he moved, motions hard and frantic and he came into his hand with a cry.

 

Chuck crushed himself back against the wall, the cold tiles against his exposed lower back bringing goosebumps to his flesh and he shivered through his throes of orgasm. He dropped his hand down and the lens went dark as he rested the device against his leg and caught his breath. There were a few more moments of panting before the recording cut and only another before the file was sent.

 

Raleigh was betting on a blurry picture, at best. He hadn’t counted on seconds, and seconds, and even more seconds of video, of Chuck looking back at him through his reflection, so worked up and desperate, blaming Raleigh for it, gasping his name.

 

He looked so fucking beautiful.

 

Raleigh wouldn’t be able to manage something of that quality in the cramped space of his car, with less-than-optimal lighting and no big mirror. But he was creative like that. He reached up, adjusted the rear view mirror so he could just about see half of his phone’s screen if he held it up. Fidgeted with the controls. They should really make some kind of remote control for these gadgets. _Or you could have sex like a normal person_ , the voice of reason somewhere in his head offered, and he promptly shut that voice up. Hardly the time.

 

He positioned the phone as well as he could, catching most of his face, torso and — yeah, his rock hard dick, on the screen. And pressed the big round record button. Pretty impressive for someone so insanely turned on as Raleigh was.

 

“You’re so fucking gorgeous,” Raleigh gasped, looking up at the phone’s camera, hoping to shortly meet Chuck’s eyes there, on the other side of the world. “Seeing you come like that is the hottest thing I’ve ever seen.”

 

He licked a stripe up his left hand — and this was gonna be interesting, because he was right-handed, though by now he doubted he needed that much coordination to get off — and wrapped it around his cock again with a deep sigh.

 

“I’m so close already… so… fucking hard for you — ngh,” Raleigh groaned, and he slid his hand up to the tip, pumping faster. “Oh fuck, oh fuck yes…”

 

His hips bucked up into his hand, lifting his ass off the car seat, his body stretched as long as it would go — feet pressing down on the car pedals, head slamming against the headrest. Raleigh wasn’t sure what kind of noises he made anymore as he finally came so blindingly hard after holding it in for what felt like hours, sticky, hot ropes of come spurting out over his abs.

 

Raleigh’s chest heaved and he slumped down back into the chair, satisfied, and quite impressed with himself for managing to keep the phone in his hand instead of dropping it and possibly breaking it. He grinned up at the camera, which was still recording. Then lifted a hand to his abdomen, scooped up a few drops of semen and proceeded to bring it to his mouth, licking it off whilst keeping his eyes fixed on the lens. Smiled. And stopped the recording, sending it to Chuck a few seconds later.

 

And the sight it gave Chuck Hansen was spectacular. By the time it came through he was already washed up and in the process to putting himself back together. The warning bell had come and gone, but his next period was an elective and Photography III wasn’t exactly back breaking. It would be easy enough to say he was distracted by something beautiful and wanted to look at it for a while before coming to class so he could compose a frame for it. His teacher loved that kind of thing and it was partially true.

 

He tugged his jeans up after washing himself in the sink and tugged on his hoodie, a warm rush of endorphins pumping through him. He’d never had a wank at school before but he might have to consider having one more often. Especially if Raleigh was going to be so easily accessible.

 

WhatsApp was both a blessing and a curse.

 

But in that particular moment is was definitely a blessing and he checked to find he’d received a video back—the contents of which were unbelievable.x

 

Raleigh was basically a porn star. Stretched out in— _is that a car!?_ He was in a car. He was half naked and stretched out in his car jerking off to Chuck’s video and then finishing off to a video _for_ Chuck and oh dear god. If he hadn’t just come he would again at the thought.

 

He watched transfixed, mapping every movement, memorizing every moan. There was something about this which was so exposed and open and yet still extremely intimate. This video was and would forever be for Chuck’s eyes only and that was _so hot._

 

A gasp echoed around the little room towards the end, an unconscious shiver rolling down his spine at the sight of Raleigh eating his own semen.

 

“You dirty fuck...” he hissed, bringing touching two fingers to his lips. It was mesmerizing. Gorgeous, famous, a genuinely _nice_ guy and fucking filthy in the bedroom to boot. It, he, _Raleigh_ was addictive to an absurd extreme and they were falling thick and fast into the game they had started by chance.

 

 _That could be you_ , a part of him said. _Eating his cum. Being a dirty little slut_. _Begging for it._

 

Chuck shivered again, his body was on overdrive these days. Everything was exciting and he could barely control himself. Hell, a stiff breeze could give him a boner but this- all of this was almost torture. And yet… and yet he wanted it more than anything. He wanted to be on his knees sucking that gorgeous dick. He _wanted_ to be under him on his hands and knees and know what it felt like, really _felt like_ to be with someone. He watched the video again, mind wandering to what Raleigh had said earlier about wanting to teach him. About being gentle and caring. Those words had come from the same dirty bastard he was watching and it almost didn’t add up. _You’re so fucking gorgeous_ was still ringing in his ears. No one had ever said that to him before. He wasn’t quite sure how to process it. Raleigh certainly was a surprising individual. A riddle wrapped in an enigma wrapped in a nerdy emoticon using dork with a huge dick and killer abs but Chuck wouldn’t really have it any other way.

 

It did, however, leave him with the predicament of just how in the hell he was supposed to answer that. He took a deep breath, willing himself not to watch the video a third time in case he started to get worked up again. He knew exactly what he would be watching after his game tonight.

 

 

Out of every possible thing he could had said, that was the first that sprang to mind.

 

Raleigh was halfway through cleaning up his belly with tissues he found in the glove compartment when his phone bleeped up, and he laughed at the response.

 

 

 

 

Chuck answered and unlatched the bathroom lock, quietly sliding out and slinking towards the Arts wing. He felt amazing and it was plain to see from the swagger in his step and the smirk on his face. Life was good. Still, there was that little ping of doubt nagging at the base of his skull. The insecurity screaming he wasn’t good enough because of his age.

 

 

Raleigh had just pulled the car out of the parking lot, finally on his way home, when the familiar _ping_ of a new message came from his phone. It’d have to wait for a bit — texting and driving, especially when it was texting with Chuck, was a bit too risky. He was a decent responsible adult that way. Though what he and Chuck were doing was far from decent, and maybe not that responsible, considering Chuck was still in highschool.

 

When he got home about fifteen minutes later, he was relieved to find the apartment empty. He rapidly undressed, his shirt looking kinda gross with some traces of spunk on it, and tossed his clothes in the laundry. Not before fishing his phone out of his pocket, of course. He’d made that mistake exactly once. Sauntering naked through his room, he scrolled through his notifications.

 

Chuck’s message made him smile. Between his moments of unabashed sexiness Chuck let on he was insecure about some stuff, and Raleigh mostly found that adorable, and kind of familiar. He hoped he hadn’t pushed too far today, being so horny it might’ve made him extra stupid. He was hardly a grade-A student, and he got knocked around in hockey a lot. So maybe he wasn’t all that smart, but he made up for it in looks, Raleigh figured.

 

 

The message came some handful of minutes later. Chuck was in the photolab’s dark room and couldn’t answer as it would ruin his work, but got to it the first chance he could and gave an almost audible sigh of relief. Waiting for Raleigh’s answer had gotten him all wound up because _why had he hesitated_? But, and this was logic poking her nose in, maybe Raleigh had been busy like Chuck was then.

 

 

The rest of the day seemed to blur by. Photography III, lunch, an off period to thunder out a paper he should have been writing the night before followed by History and then pre-game practice. It was just before going out on the field that he snapped a picture and sent it to Raleigh who apparently didn’t mind the idea Chuck was in school. Who didn’t seem to mind at all that he was younger. _Alright_ , he thought, _I can work with this_. _I can make the student thing sexy_. There was tons of that on the internet. The schoolboy. The barely legal teen.

 

Which was why he sent a picture of himself looking every inch the schoolboy in his rugby uniform. Navy shorts that rose high and tight on the thigh with sky blue stripes down the side. Striped knee socks in the same colors and a close fitting jersey which proudly read RAAF RICHMOND  RANGERS. He was standing in a locker room  with his thumb hooked in the waistband of his shorts and the mirror behind him just caught a glimpse of HANSEN, the air force logo on his back and the number 7. Hair unruly as ever, his usual smirk firmly in place. The picture was delivered with the caption,

 

 

Raleigh was so, so glad he checked his phone just before he went to bed. Because, holy fuck. Chuck looked like a teenage fantasy made reality, his uniform impossibly tight — how was _that_ even allowed in school? — the luscious smirk on his face unmistakably meant for Raleigh. Jesus Christ. And the whole RAAF thing didn’t help. So Chuck was an air force brat? Raleigh vaguely hoped Chuck’s dad wasn’t going to like, fly over and kill his ass. Come to think of it, maybe he would. Yikes.

 

Still, though. The picture of Chuck in his tight rugby uniform with messy hair and that grin plastered on his face went straight to Raleigh’s dick. And maybe he grabbed the lube and some tissues and jerked off to Chuck Hansen for the second time that day. That kid was gonna wear him out at this rate.

 

 

Raleigh bit his lip. Could he bring the filth up a notch? Surely he could.

 

 

Raleigh sent the message off with a chuckle and finally dug into his duvet, falling asleep fast.

 

When he awoke there would be several messages from an enthusiastic Chuck who liked that idea and had won his game. Victory apparently included sending Raleigh a nice up and close picture of his cock in his fist, heavy and hard and throbbing. A great image to wake up to, he figured.

 

The socks comment had shot a spark right through Chuck and after he’d gotten home he’d watched that video from Raleigh a few more times, jerking off with the name on his lips, the image of being spread on his hands and knees in nothing but his rugby socks sending him over the edge.

 

 

That was also the night he ordered a prostate massager. It was a ballsy move but his father was almost _always_ at work and Chuck was a big boy. He was capable of collecting his own mail without his dad asking what a little unmarked cardboard box was and even if he did by some humiliating stroke of bad luck? He would say it was a computer cable and that would be that.

 

The real problem was selecting what he thought would be the _right_ massager and after an a hour and a half he gave up and ordered the one he had first looked at which was as similar to Raleigh’s as he could find. Because, well, when in doubt about what to put in your butt, go with what you know. At least it was local shipping and would likely come by the weekend.

 

Just before he crashed for the night he groped for his phone and added one last message.

 

 

Raleigh was out early for a run in the nice, breezy summer morning when his running playlist was rudely disturbed by a loud beeping noise. He slowed down his pace gradually to a walk and tugged the phone’s pouch off his arm. He didn’t even really expect it to be anyone else but Chuck, because who the hell else was sending him messages these days? There were a couple of guys on Grindr he exchanged texts with but they were all boring, bland — nothing like Chuck. There really wasn’t anyone quite like Chuck, not anyone he’d ever met.

 

Raleigh smiled and texted back.

 

 

At this rate, he was going to have to make a new list.

 

Raleigh took a swig from his water bottle and scrolled back up through their message history, stupidly grinning at all the dirty talk they’d managed. He was tempted to rewatch Chuck’s fucking sexy video, but running with a boner wasn’t exactly comfortable. He’d take a look at it later. Saved it to his phone, just in case, what with Anchorage’s data network coverage being as utterly shitty as it was. Finally, he strapped the phone back on his arm and settled back into a jog.

 

And it’s just as well he carried on because Chuck wouldn’t be up for a while, yet. When he did wake, he was greeted to that lovely piece of information and, to be honest, he wasn’t exactly sure how much he liked it. It was, however, something he had done before (thank god) and at least knew what he was doing. He thought. Given how much Raleigh knew he probably looked like a complete novice and Chuck concluded that some research would have to be done before he did anything. So maybe he was a little wary... but he did enjoy a challenge.

 

 _You are going to finger yourself on webcam for this guy and you are gonna make it fucking awesome,_ Chuck concluded, tugging on his jeans and a shirt that was probably clean.

 

 

 

Chuck answered before he could change his mind as he dragged himself out of bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and giving Max a good scratch. Chuck stretched and grunted, rubbing a spot on his side where he’d taken an elbow during the game. The time difference was a pain in the ass but at least he woke up to exciting messages. It made leaving his warm, comfortable bed that little bit easier. And Chuck really loved nothing more than being in his bed, especially in winter.

 

 

It wouldn’t hit him until much later what he was getting himself into. His heart would jump into his throat and the blood would rush around his head, nerves drawing tight as he began to second guess himself. But Hansens were men of their word and if he said he was going to do something then he was going to god damn do it. For now though, he was bleary and excited and pleasantly warm from a rather explicit dream involving the very man he was texting now.

 

Chuck’s response came early in the afternoon for Raleigh, and was well received. It’d be exciting to see Chuck do something like that on camera; especially after the show Raleigh had given him last time, he was eager to see what Chuck would do.

 

 

Raleigh had gotten so frustrated in the past week that he’d downloaded a time zone calculator app on his phone, and quickly tapped it, putting in 11 pm, Anchorage, to Sydney.

 

 

 

He’d be finished with school at half three and back home for four. That gave him a bit of time to sort himself out and set up his room. Move his computer over a little for a better view of his bed and clean himself up. He wasn’t sure why dirty talk, masturbation, and video were all fine but fingering himself was suddenly a fringe topic, but there was a notion of exhilaration in the act. Maybe that would inspire him to really enjoy it. Gah! It was frustrating the way he kept flip flopping. Raleigh was a nice guy and if Chuck wanted to back out he had the feeling it wouldn’t be a problem... but he didn’t actually _want_ to back out. He just wanted to find a way to harness his nervousness and make it really fucking good. And really, what was he so nervous about anyway? He’d been talking the talk, even volunteering. It was time to walk the walk.

 

He was sure he could put on a show. He could put on a damn fine show if he wanted. Probably.

 

 

Chuck asked as he left the house.

 

 

Raleigh texted back right away. Sure, he was horny as fuck, but he could go a few hours without sex. Mostly. Okay, maybe the way Chuck had him worked up these days, it was gonna be trickier than he thought.

 

 

Later that evening, Raleigh suspected Chuck might have been talking about Raleigh’s attention span rather than his sex drive. He’d been up at 6 am, and now it was almost 11 whilst he was waiting for Chuck to get online. Time to dive into Yance’s stash of caffeinated candy. Which was really Tendo’s, and Yance kept it around to have his boyfriend be at least marginally awake after pulling another all-nighter. Crazy Comp Science majors and their fucked up sleeping patterns. At least tomorrow was a Friday, and Raleigh’s earliest class started at 10. He could afford to stay up late.

 

After he’d located the stash in a kitchen cabinet — and not Yance’s bedroom, _thank god_ — he quickly popped a few caffeine-and-taurine-laden gummi bears. Who even came up with this kind of food? Comp Science nerds, probably. Raleigh grabbed a can of coke for good measure and then went back to his room, locked the door, and got his laptop all set up. Chuck should be online any second now. Not that he was counting or anything.

 

Raleigh wouldn’t be kept waiting too long. Chuck had spent the majority of his free time that day researching and preparing his plan of attack. He was thankful for his own deviancy in that this wasn’t completely new but the times he’d gone there he had been in the shower, so finding a way to present himself in his bedroom was new. He found focusing on the little details helped to keep his nerves at bay. What towel he would put down, how he might kneel, making the decision to do a little manscaping... He would definitely need to find his gaming headset and make sure it still worked alright. He would need to gather supplies and have them within easy reach.

 

11:00PM came and went for Raleigh and Chuck still hadn’t signed on. He was sat at the edge of his bed lining everything up and once that was done he couldn’t feasibly waste any more time faffing about. Nerves had him a little jumpy but not enough to stop so he stood and shook himself out, taking a few deep breaths.

 

“You can do this,” he said aloud. “It’s fine, you can do this. You can do this.”

 

11:04 had crept up onto Raleigh’s clock when Chuck’s name popped up in the lower right corner of the screen as he signed on. He didn’t bother to text first, just called right away with video and took his very last moments to take a deep breath and steel his nerves. He had decided to put a game face on and slip into a character of sorts. Someone who did this all the time. Some internet hussy cam whore who didn’t have the least bit of reservation. Someone who wasn’t embarrassed what so ever, who loved it, even. Basically, he wanted to pretend to be Raleigh. So when the call went through he was there, perched on the edge of his bed in nothing but his bathrobe, headset and a smile trying his best to purr into the microphone and not betray the violently conflicting emotions fighting just beneath the surface.

 

“Hello gorgeous.”

 

Raleigh was wearing a tight singlet — the kind of shirt people called a _wifebeater_ , but he hated that word — and a pair of also-pretty-tight boxers, and gave a broad smile to the webcam as Chuck’s face popped up. He couldn’t deny the hot spark that lit up in his chest at seeing Chuck again, moving and talking, the closest thing they could get to being face-to-face. “Hey, you.”

 

“Hey is for horses,” he shot back, smile turning to more of a smirk as he shifted to lean on one hand. “Missed you. I had to actually pay attention in class and everything.”

 

Raleigh licked his lips and maybe actually blushed a little when Chuck said he’d missed him. He let out a soft chuckle. “Kinda missed you too,” he said softly.

 

Why was he feeling all mushy all of a sudden? Maybe it was something in the candy. Did he accidentally eat Tendo’s stash of party pills instead? Geez. Raleigh straightened his back and coughed. “So…” he started, gazing up and down Chuck’s body. Which looked amazing still, even when most of it was underneath the bathrobe. “How are you feeling?” Argh, still too mushy, probably. “I’m pretty excited about tonight.”

 

“Yeah?” Chuck asked, the wheels in his head started turning and he elected to skip the first question. Raleigh’s blush hadn’t gone unseen and the need to darken it rose up considerably.

 

“You sound like you’re gonna take me to prom or something. And here I thought—” He continued, leaning in, smirk turning somewhat wolfish as he solidified into his character for the night “—you just wanted to get off watchin’ me finger myself. Do I get a corsage if I’m good?”

 

Raleigh laughed out loud, running a hand through his hair. Yeah, he had that one coming. He bit his lip and made eye contact with Chuck through the webcam, grinning. And dropped his voice by nearly an octave.

 

“Yeah babe, I’ll give you a corsage, if you want. Wrap it around your pretty cock, how about that?”

 

He leaned back a little, his expression darkening as he slid a hand down to brush over the bulge in his boxers.

 

“You all talk or you gonna show me something to get me hard for you?”

 

“Mate, I don’t have to show you shit. I see your hand down there.” Chuck smiled again, licking his bottom lip and wiggling in his spot ever so slightly. He was very pleased with himself. And with Raleigh. Oh hell, this was gonna be great.

 

“But since you _have_ been waiting all day I think I can maybe give you _something_.” Chuck continued, reaching for something just off screen and moving as though he was getting dressed, though whatever he put on couldn’t be seen.

 

Chuck swung his legs up onto the bed and untied his robe, letting it fall off his broad shoulders into a heap on toweling around him.

 

“You want me to show you something, baby?”

 

He shoved the robe onto the floor and crawled onto his knees, turning around and spreading his stance wide but keeping his body close to the bed, exposing himself properly as though on offer. It was then Raleigh could see he’d pulled his striped socks on all the way to the knee.

 

“How’s that?” Chuck breathed into the headset, nerves jumping for a moment now he was naked and spread. _Just relax_ , he repeated in his head. _You love this, you filthy fuck._ Though whether he meant Raleigh or himself he wasn’t quite sure.

 

“Holy fuck,” Raleigh hissed, going hard so fast he was just about seeing stars. Chuck was wearing the socks. _He was wearing the fucking socks, jesus christ._

 

And Chuck’s ass. The way Chuck had so swiftly slipped off his robe and moved into position, all smooth grace as he went on all fours and rolled his hips back up towards the lens — just about _presenting_ himself to Raleigh. And that ass, _fuck_. Did playing rugby give you an ass like that? Raleigh had no idea. A pair of lovely, sculpted globes, with just the right amount of softness where they met Chuck’s thighs, so perfectly round all Raleigh wanted was to reach through the screen and dig his hands into all that pale flesh, sink his teeth in, spread them even wider — and there, right there in the middle, Chuck’s tight little hole, washed pink and, and… Raleigh’s mouth was watering. Fuck, how badly he wanted to run his tongue over that wrinkled ring, to taste Chuck, taste his most sensitive, hidden place, work his tongue inside —

 

“Fuck,” Raleigh groaned. “You’re so goddamn sexy, you have no idea, fuck, I wish I was there with you, wish I could taste you just like that.”

 

“Mmm...” Chuck hummed in response. “I wish you were, too. I’ve not let anyone.”

 

It was as though he were having an out of body experience. On the inside he was nervous and slightly terrified and vulnerable but for whatever reason his body seemed to know how to carry on. His mouth was saying all the right words and he was pretty sure he thought he sounded calm. Good. He wanted to sound confident. He wanted to be that sexy kitten on all fours on cam. It was just slightly mind boggling that he seemed to be accomplishing that feat.

 

Chuck turned and moved forward for a moment to grab something from just off camera and came back with the bottle of lube he usually kept in his desk drawer, popping it open with his thumb and twisting back to look at the camera as he poured the thick, clear liquid over the cleft of his ass. The bottle was capped and in another swift movement he was rubbing it down and over his entrance, slow and wide movements to cover more than he needed to. The substance caught the light, though, and made him look glossy and oiled. Wet and dripping and _ready_.

 

“How badly do you want me, R _al_ eigh?” he growled, microphone close to his mouth, first two fingers slick and slowly circling his hole.

 

Raleigh just let out a low moan at the sight of Chuck’s slicked-up hole, Chuck’s fingers rubbing small circles over it. He wasn’t quite sure how to make his mouth say words anymore. Clumsily, not tearing his eyes away from the video feed, he pushed his boxers down, found the bottle of lube under his bed by touch alone and lubed up his cock. Raleigh let out a long sigh of relief as he slowly started to stroke himself.

 

Just the thought of being the first one to see Chuck like this — because that’s what Chuck had meant, right? — it was driving Raleigh mad.

 

“Want you so bad,” Raleigh panted. “‘m so fucking hard, seeing you, making… making your hole all wet for me…”

 

“I’m _so_ wet.” he answered, gaze flicking between the camera and screen and his rear end. “You’ll slide right in. But let me do this first.” What the fuck was he saying. Did it make sense? He sure hoped so.

 

“I wanna be all open and ready for that monster cock of yours.” He looked up again, breathing out as he finally pushed his fingers inside himself. It stung a little at first in the way all things going into your ass do but he refused to recognize that and instead gave a low whine, eyes connecting right to Raleigh through the camera.

 

“You did promise to fuck me, didn’t you.”

 

Monster cock, huh? Raleigh wasn’t sure whether to blush at the praise or be plain embarrassed. True enough, he was big — definitely bigger than average. Maybe a lot. And maybe that’s why he topped as much as he bottomed. Sometimes the prep just took ages, nearly killing the mood, and Raleigh didn’t like hurting his partner. Could Chuck take him? Could Ch—

 

_Was Chuck a virgin after all?_

 

The realization completely blindsided him. He’d asked before, and Chuck had said no, but… he said he hadn’t let anyone rim him. But that didn’t mean…

 

 _Geez, Rals, snap out of it_. He wasn’t sure why he was doubting Chuck’s words now, when he hadn’t before. They’d always been honest with each other, right? They could trust each other. Raleigh was sure of that.

 

And just the thought of sliding right inside Chuck’s hole, wet and open for him — Raleigh licked his lips and pumped himself a little faster, gripping the head of his cock and twisting the palm of his hand around it, working up the pleasure to a nearly painful place before sliding back down to the base.

 

And then Chuck’s fingers disappeared inside himself. Two at once, like, not even taking it easy with one. Raleigh saw the slight twitch of pain in Chuck’s features before Chuck’s expression softened again and he made a delicious noise, glancing back at Raleigh.

 

“Yeah, babe,” Raleigh breathed. “Make your ass all soft for me… gonna fuck you sweet and slow.”

 

“Yeah? You gonna make _love_ to me, Ray?” Chuck answered in sing song. An honest question as much as it was a taunt. He dropped his head for a moment, breathing hard as he willed himself to relax. There were no half measures in the Hansen household. Either you did it right or not at all and that very much applied to now in Chuck’s mind as he worked himself slowly and to the best of his abilities. This had been easier in the shower with one finger but two had felt right in the here and now, regardless of the pinch. He was sure it would pass. It would pass and go from uncomfortable to awesome just like it was supposed to and then they would be in real business.

 

All he had to do was imagine Raleigh was really there. He braced on his elbow and forearm, other hand buried deep in his ass, pretending it was Raleigh’s cock. Pretending he was being fucked slow and sweet just like he promised. Promised in that gorgeous deep voice with those gorgeous pink lips. The mental picture made him moan, getting lost in the build up. He wasn’t sure when it happened, but the motions had ceased to hurt but the flutter and scissoring of fingers was starting to spark and join the rush of adrenaline already coursing through him.

 

Chuck widened his legs even further, knees scuffling for a firm stance, his own cock hanging heavy and swollen between his legs, just brushing the towel he’d set himself up on. He moaned again, the tail end guttural and deep from his chest.

 

“You feel good,” he said, panting lightly, face pressed against the arm he was using to hold himself up.

 

Raleigh just stared, slack-jawed and in awe, as he witnessed the change rippling through Chuck’s body. His own hand worked long, slow pumps over his cock, almost absentmindedly, as he was so caught up in the display in front of him. The way Chuck just… _let go_. One minute he was fingering himself, and then it had all turned into something more, like Chuck was really aching to be fucked by him, spreading his legs wide, and god, just the sight of those tight balls, reddened and heavy between Chuck’s thighs…

 

“Yeah, I will,” Raleigh groaned, nearly _growled_. “Make love to you. Any way you want. I’ll make it feel so good for you, baby.” He paused, tightening his grip around his cock. Jesus, nobody else made him want to come as hard and fast as Chuck did.

 

“I’m there with you now,” Raleigh went on, his voice hoarse. “My fingers moving over yours. Made yourself so open for me already, I… I can’t wait to be inside you, pull your hips back, just slide right in…”

 

The response was an immediate and quiet whine right into the headset followed by a whispered “ _Jesus Christ..._ ”

 

It had Chuck rocking back, fingers and ass slick, gliding as he fingered himself.

 

“I can feel you,” He answered. “I want more. Shit—” He was panting and looked up to find where that bottle of lube had gone. There was a small hesitation while he thought about the best way to go about adding more without disrupting his stance.

 

Chuck gave a small “erm—” before lowering himself from his elbow to his shoulder and face so he could use his free hand to reach back and pour more of the thick oil over himself. It dripped over his ass and down the back of his thigh before he could coat himself again. Mission accomplished, he spread the new addition and resumed his position—taking the opportunity and his newly doubly slick fingers to tease in a third with a hard, choked exhale. “ _Fuck_!” he swore but didn’t stop, other hand fisting the sheets of his bed. “Ngggh fuck, fuck fuck—”

 

Raleigh licked his lips, his chest heaving almost in sync with Chuck’s, so enraptured by the boy’s cries and movements he was barely aware of being in his own room anymore. He nearly felt Chuck’s pleasure as his own, his hole twitching in response when Chuck slipped in a third finger, and Raleigh moaned.

 

“Chuck,” he said, raised his voice, trying to cut through the haze, “Press your fingers down, towards your cock. Curving them back, towards… towards me.”

 

He didn’t know if Chuck had ever massaged his prostate, or had anyone else do it. All Raleigh wished was he could be there in person, to see and hear it, to feel the tremors in Chuck’s body and kiss him and swallow his deep moans as Chuck worked himself into a frenzy.

 

“Trust me,” Raleigh added. “I’m here.”

 

“Hhh?” Towards him— “Hh’kay.” Chuck crushed his eyes closed and swallowed hard, his throat suddenly dry as he followed the orders in his ear, fingers still pawing, working into a nice, sturdy rhythm. He angled down, adjusting his weight from knee to knee, fingers crooking back and— “OH—!” The jolt smacked his square in the front of the brain, knees buckling and body moving forward. “Oh my god— _Fuck!_ ”

 

It was some kind of eureka moment and suddenly everything in the world made complete fucking sense as he struck against his prostate with the tips of his fingers. His hips released and dropped him to grind against the bed. Chuck whined, voice pitching up into his higher register, lost in the moment, brain awash with pure straight pleasure. He’d never gotten it quite right before. Sure it had felt good once he’d gotten through the pain but he’d never realized _this_ was possible. Oh holy fuck he’d been wanking wrong his entire life.

 

Raleigh chuckled. Fuck, it was amazing to see Chuck completely lose himself to pleasure. Raleigh knew just exactly how fucking fantastic a prostate massage felt, and judging from Chuck’s reaction — yeah, this was the first time the kid felt anything like it.

 

Weirdly enough, Raleigh had almost forgotten his own pleasure — he just wanted to be _there_ , with Chuck, experiencing it with him. His chest felt suddenly tight, ached, at how they were separated by computer screens and ones and zeroes and a whole huge Pacific Ocean.

 

“That’s it baby,” Raleigh whispered, his voice low and soothing. “Feels good, doesn’t it?”

 

Words weren’t exactly at the top of Chuck’s priority list and he merely nodded and gave a breathy noise in the affirmative. He dropped to his shoulder and face again, pressing hard into his duvet to free his hand so that he could grasp his aching cock. Moaning with relief, he stroked himself, fucking into his fist as he drove into his stretched and slicked hole with his other hand, foregoing that third finger in an effort to better position two and he cried out again, a tremble rocking through him as his limbs gave out to another bolt of pleasure when he hit that spot _just_ right.

 

“S’fuh— ” Chuck attempted, “amazin’— ngh fuck me, Raleigh _please_. I’m gonna—”

 

There was, of course, only so much they could do given the circumstances but it didn’t stop him from asking. That was all part of the fantasy, right? And he’d long forgotten his reservations, throwing them to the wind and all but burning them the moment Raleigh told him to crook his fingers.

 

He was close. So very _very_ close, and almost non existent as he gave in to every single feeling and noise that clawed its way out of him.

 

“I will,” Raleigh murmured, barely aware at how his fist had picked up speed, frantically pumping his cock as he brought himself closer and closer to orgasm. “When we meet, I’ll do it just like that, open you up, make you scream and cry until you’re begging me. I’ll fuck you, _make love_ to you, make you lose your mind as I thrust inside you. But now I want you to come for me like this, knowing you’re fingering yourself for me, knowing you’re rubbing that spot inside, knowing how good it is. C’mon, baby. I’m here. _Come._ ”

 

And perhaps it was Raleigh’s words, or the electric current that snapped together in Chuck’s body as he gave the order, but he did. He came almost on demand, fingers deep and grazing, body unable to control the fierce tremor or loud cry and he bit into his duvet to smother the sound. He trembled hard and succumbed to the most intense orgasm of his life—a blinding force that ripped through him and set every nerve alight, turned his limbs and spine to jelly and left him collapsed in a sticky, mindless heap on the bed. Unable to move. Unable to think. Just a flushed, sweaty, panting heap.

 

Raleigh came mere seconds later, his body pulsing in time with Chuck’s, responding to all the visual and audial stimuli without even having to think about it. Like watching porn, but a thousand times hotter, because this was Chuck, doing these things just for Raleigh, for the two of them alone. He let out a wordless, loud cry as his hips thrust off the bed, his free hand clutching the sheets. A stream of words followed and he was barely aware of how much he was vocalizing his thoughts.

 

“You’re so beautiful, fuck, you’re unbelievable, I love seeing you like this, I love y—”

 

What was left of Raleigh’s common sense hit the alarm button, shocking his full consciousness back to life. “—your, how you, how gorgeous you are when you’re coming for me,” Raleigh managed.

 

 _Nice save_ , he thought. _Not._

 

And hoped that in his apparent state of total knock-out bliss, Chuck hadn’t heard what Raleigh had almost said. But even if Chuck hadn’t, Raleigh had. Right there in his head.

 

Well, fuck.

 

He’d fallen for the kid.

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i bet you thought we'd never post another chapter again  
> WELL YOU WERE WRONG
> 
> here it is, lovelies! <3

The night Chuck Hansen fingered himself live on the internet for Raleigh Becket was the night he decided he was definitely at a turning point. Not in anything specifically, but in general. In life. In who he was interested in, in what kinds of things he was interested in, and what the future might hold for him.

 

They had finished up, exchanged a few minutes of sleepy, coy banter, and then said good night.

 

He hadn’t heard anything from Raleigh since, and it was really starting to tick him off. He’d sent a few messages. Not too many. He didn’t want to appear _needy_.

 

But nothing, for a whole goddamn two weeks. And it’s not like he could just hop over the pond and smack Raleigh upside the head. It was actually getting pretty fucking depressing — their connection had felt so real, but now that Raleigh was out of touch, it was painfully obvious how fragile it was.

 

Chuck resolved to shrug it off. Whatever. It had just been some online jacking off to each other, right? It meant nothing. No big deal.

 

When he finally received a message from Raleigh after what was now almost three weeks he just about threw his phone.

 

>> Hey. Sorry about the radio silence.

 

Raleigh swallowed hard as he pressed ‘send’. He’d been going on and off for days trying to figure out what to do. Whether to even get back to Chuck, like, at all.

 

He’d realized he was developing serious feelings for the kid and the next day real life had come crashing down. _Hard_. Because he was a fucking idiot. Because he was late for practice. Because he’d rushed packing and unpacking his shit in the locker room. Because he’d lost his goddamn phone.

 

And his coach had found it.

 

He’d had to stand there and endure about an hour of yelling and trying to explain that no, he wasn’t sexting a minor, no, this wasn’t going to come back to the team, okay, maybe he was thinking with his dick rather than his brain right before the season started and did he realize the bad press this could generate —

 

And all the crap he’d been trying not to think about had started weighing on him. What was he thinking, that he and Chuck could ever be… anything else than some online fling? His schedule was freaking mental. Training, matches, training, matches, more training. One hotel after the other, going from locker room to ice and back until he lost the sense of days and weeks. His focus turning into nothing but the ice, the puck, the goal, his body burning and aching and that fucking fantastic feeling when you won. Where did Chuck fit in, into any of that? Hell, the only reason he started this was because… it was a good distraction, right? And it’s not like his summer classes really ever panned out to anything. He just didn’t like feeling dumb. Like maybe if he broke his leg or something he had other marketable skills. But more than anything it was the sudden, crushing reality that made him turn off his phone to Chuck’s messages: the realization that he slept around because that was all he _could_ do given the life he lead. And it was fine. Should be fine. Around that point, he’d had a sudden, icy thought: what if Chuck was having feelings for him, too?

 

He couldn’t do that to the kid. Raleigh already knew it was pointless. His career left no room for romance. Chuck was young, Chuck was… way more sexy than he had any right to be, and he’d find a local guy easy, right?

 

Raleigh had no right to ruin the kid’s life just to get his own rocks off. That’s what he told himself. So after he’d come to a decision, he figured he should at least let Chuck know.

 

He stared nervously at the screen of his phone. Maybe Chuck wouldn’t even reply. Maybe he’d pissed the kid off enough already.

 

That’d certainly be an easier way out.

 

And as was the way with things like this, Chuck was relatively quick to answer. In truth he’d wanted to message back immediately but Raleigh didn’t seem to have a lot of time for him and being so quick on the draw felt..a little pathetic. And so he waited. He waited and he played with Max. He waited and scratched his balls for a while. He waited and rolled around on his bed and rolled around some more making noises for another handful of minutes before he just couldn’t take it anymore.

 

Twelve minutes. He made it twelve minutes.

 

Raleigh was just. Well he was amazing. In a lot of ways but he had _always_ answered and when those dried up Chuck got a pit in his stomach like something was wrong. The silence lasted and he started getting angry and then told himself he didn’t care. But people who didn’t care didn’t cyber-stalk the guys they were camming with. Didn’t have their names on google alert. And didn’t troll the internet looking for anything to do with him or his team.

 

“Fuck him.” Chuck said aloud, laying upside down on his bed, phone in hand with his head hanging off the end. Max stood just under him and snuffled, tipping up enough to sniff and slobber in his master’s hair. Chuck held the phone in front of his face. Stared at it. Put it back down with a flump.

 

“Do you think he was just busy with work?” It was almost hopeful. “Or maybe he’s bored of me.” What a fucking awful thought. Max snuffled more and then sneezed.

 

“What does Mexico have to do with anything, he’s a hockey player, Max.”

 

And in truth it had absolutely nothing to do with anything, but private jokes with a dog who didn’t care helped to soothe his crippling anxiety. And that’s what this had turned into. Chuck sighed. He sighed and sat up, wobbling a little with a “Bluuuh,” from headrush and rolled onto his stomach to read the text again and an extra time before typing about ten different answers until he finally settled on one.

 

<< Hey

 

Alright, maybe not the best so he continued with another brief line.

 

<< Sorta fell off the face of the world there, mate.

 

Raleigh had been staring at his phone for about fifteen minutes, tense and just barely breathing. Had it been a bad idea to text Chuck? Maybe he shouldn’t have? What was he even going to say? Maybe he should have let Chuck forget about him, move on—

 

He fucking dropped the phone when it pinged loudly with the incoming message.

 

“Shit,” Raleigh mumbled, flopping on his bed on his stomach to reach the phone which had slid under the bed.

 

Then he stared at the words on the screen for a good ten minutes more. This had to be the slowest texting they’d ever done.

 

What was he going to reply? Some nonsense about being busy? Make up an excuse that he lost his phone? Or… or he could tell Chuck the truth.

 

_It’s not gonna work between us. Sorry if I led you on. Hockey season starting soon, I won’t be around much. Take care._

 

He felt sick just thinking about it.

 

>> Training has been busy

 

Raleigh didn’t press send. He sighed and deleted the words, then stared at a blank entry box again. Why was this so fucking hard.

 

>> Lost my phone

 

Bullshit. Delete.

 

>> Coach found my phone

 

Raleigh sighed. It was the truth. And it didn’t feel as stupid as the other two. Somehow he suspected Chuck could see right through him. Right through the damn screen. Smart ass kid.

 

>> Gave me an earful.

 

He bit his lip in thought. What else could he say that was at least somewhat true?

 

>> Been hitting the ice hard. But thought of you.

 

Raleigh groaned. That was gonna give Chuck the wrong idea again. He deleted the last sentence and glanced over his message again.

 

>> Coach found my phone. Gave me an earful. Been hitting the ice hard.

 

It’d have to do.

 

And it took Raleigh long enough to send back. Chuck was pretty certain he’d die of old age before anything was resolved but when the answer did come… Well, he wasn’t exactly sure he was glad to get one.

 

He read it a few times, dissecting it sentence for sentence. Okay, so he had been at practice, that he could get behind. Raleigh was a professional or semi professional, whatever, hockey player and that was his life. But it was the bits before that really had Chuck worried. He didn’t wait long to answer this time.

 

<< Are you in trouble?

 

Raleigh couldn’t help the flutter of relief in his chest when Chuck’s answer came faster this time.

 

>> No. Just gotta show my focus, make it count.

 

Oh, fuck. It just occurred to Raleigh — Chuck might be worried about his own privacy. Christ, why had he started with the truth? Because Raleigh himself wasn’t sure how much his coach had seen on his phone. Way Serge talked it seemed he’d only dug into texts, not pictures or videos, but…

 

>> ‘m sorry. it was pretty damn stupid of me.

 

<<Yeah, w2g genius. So you’re totally busted?

 

Chuck asked, sitting upright as he typed, legs crossed. This was pretty fucking serious. He was pretty sure he was alright being halfway around the world and everything but Raleigh could, like, get fired or something, right? Or blackmailed or something? That’s what seemed to always happen in the sports world. There’d been a point when Raleigh was cautious of Chuck having that same advantage over him. Only Chuck didn’t want anything from Raleigh but his attention.

 

<< And here I thought you just got bored of me.

 

A beat. All of this was rapidly being put into perspective and as bad as it sounded he’d kinda way rather this over Raleigh just not wanting to talk to him anymore.

 

<< Are you okay?

 

Raleigh drew in a deep breath. He hadn’t gotten bored of Chuck. Nowhere near it even. Anything but.

 

But he’d been fucking lucky it’d been Serge who picked up his phone. He protected them, protected the team. He’d tore Raleigh a new one, sure. And Raleigh had been stuck doing goddamn double suicides for a whole week straight, along with clean up duty. At least he’d sure as hell worked off his summer fat.

 

Raleigh really didn’t want to think about what could’ve happened if someone else had found his phone. Like a janitor. Or worse, press. Thank fuck they weren’t allowed in the locker rooms.

 

He’d deleted all pics and videos off his phone after. Better safe than sorry. And put a passcode on the damn thing, as annoying as that was.

 

He really, really missed being able to go back and check Chuck’s pictures… and that one insanely hot video from the highschool bathroom. Shit, he still had wet dreams about that one.

 

Focus, Rals. Christ.

 

>> Yeah. How are you?

 

<< Alright. Bored mostly. There’s this guy I really like talking to but he disappeared for three weeks so I’m sorta sore about that. Especially because I bought something fun to show him. But otherwise nothing important has happened. School is still easy. Uni apps are still stupid. My dog is still awesome. My dad is still an asshole.

 

Was that passive aggressive? Maybe… Probably… Definitely. But fuck it. He’d already sent it along with more personal information than he probably should have. But truth be told? Things weren’t great. Chuck had felt, well, sorta abandoned. And on top of that he had the sneaking suspicion that his dad was seeing someone and hadn’t grown the nuts to tell him about it, yet. If at all. And wasn’t that just a kick in the teeth.

 

<< Turns out the guy I was talking to is just a dumbass. I think I’ll forgive him. Are you still allowed to talk to me?

 

Raleigh smiled. It was easy to get caught up in Chuck’s sharp wit, and — he blinked, rereading the message he’d skipped over.

 

Bought something fun to show him?

 

Oh, shit.

 

>> He sounds pretty dumb, yeah. ;)

>> Sort of. Have to be careful. Keep my phone clean and such.

>> You… bought something?

 

<< Dumb but cute. At least he’s got that working for him.

<< Indeed, tho it sounds like I can’t tell you about it here.

 

Chuck couldn’t help it. It felt good to be talking to Raleigh again. Not that they’d ever really just...talked? But having him around again sure was nice.

 

He wasn’t sure what that meant.

 

It might be validating all the confusing feelings he’d been having. But it sounded like he had Raleigh’s attention again and that was a comfort.

 

<< Give you a hint, it’s plastic and I’d be grounded forever if my dad had opened it.

 

No, that made him sound like a kid. He wasn’t trying to reinforce that fact. Delete.

 

<< Give you a hint, you’ve got one.

 

Better.

 

Raleigh stared at the screen for a good minute. _He_ had one? What did that mean? He had lots of stuff. He had a whole suitcase full of — but _oh shit_ Chuck had only seen one of his toys, hadn’t he?

 

Raleigh knew exactly what Chuck had bought.

 

Heat shot through his body just imagining Chuck playing with the prostate massager, and he groaned, burying his face into the pillow. “Christ,” Raleigh mumbled to himself. He really, _really_ wanted to see and hear Chuck… use that toy. But he couldn’t, right? He had to put a stop to this. Be the responsible adult. He should… he really, really should. It was just past midnight… so it was like, evening in Australia, right? Maybe…

 

 _You need to get your shit together, Becket. Don’t think I haven’t heard the goddamn rumors. And your personal life is my personal fucking business if it screws with your head. You need to decide what’s more important: your career or your_ dick _. Get some fucking focus or I’m benching you for the whole season._

 

Raleigh’s grip on the phone tightened.

 

>> Sorry,

 

Raleigh gritted his teeth. It had been three weeks. They… they didn’t have to keep this going. Chuck should find someone local. Raleigh needed to focus on his sports career. It had been fun whilst it lasted… right? What was he thinking, that he had feelings for the kid. That was just his dick talking. There was no way. No way this could ever be anything.

 

>> I gotta get up early.

>> ‘night.

 

He sent the message and put his phone down on the nightstand, heading to the bathroom for a cool shower before bed.

 

Son of a bitch.

 

Well, Chuck reasoned, fine. Maybe Raleigh did have to go to bed. It was late there.. it made sense. He couldn’t help but feel his stomach drop a little. That was supposed to get him interested not put him to sleep.

 

<< Didn’t mean tonight, another time?

 

He sent and waited. And waited. And _waited_.

 

<< Are you srsly asleep?

 

Nothing. An hour. Two hours. Three. He waited all night, fumed through dinner. It shouldn’t be a big deal. It shouldn’t. Raleigh had just gone to bed, right? People did that. Sleep was a thing that people needed. But Raleigh had _always_ answered him, even when he got the time wrong and messaged him in the middle of the night. So what the fuck?

 

<< Trying not to get offended over here

<< Hell of a way to talk to a guy after blanking him for three weeks

 

Still nothing. He took his frustrations out via videogame but even after slaughtering consistently for seven rounds he didn’t feel any better. And by then it was time for _him_ to sleep. He checked his phone again, read through the messages. Tried to figure it out. Chuck knew this was starting to look needy. He didn’t want to look needy but seriously what the actual fuck.

 

<< Don’t be a dick you can at least talk to me

 

He only sent one more before turning in for a night of grumbly, angry half sleep that only succeeded in making him more anxious by morning.

 

Raleigh hadn't slept a goddamn wink, or it felt like he hadn't. He should've turned his phone on quiet, really; but instead he'd turned the continued bleeps of Chuck’s messages into a personal punishment. He didn't deserve rest. That's what his sleep addled mind came up with. He had led Chuck on, corrupted the kid, he hadn't thought about how it would affect their lives, how there was no way anything could ever work out between them. He was an idiot. Sleep was for decent people.

 

Only somewhere near morning his poor sleep had turned into erotic dreams and somehow all involving Chuck—Chuck fucking him, sucking Chuck off, Chuck sitting on top of him as Raleigh thrusted his hips up into the boy, tight and hot around him--

 

An hour later he woke up properly, having slept right through his alarm. He checked his messages. And paled.

 

He'd sent Chuck a string of I'm sorry's and I don't know's, followed by a dick pic and an empathetic "I can't fucking stop thinking about you".

 

"Fucking idiot," Raleigh mumbled to himself.

 

You couldn't delete messages on whatsapp after being sent, right?

 

Nope, you couldn't.

 

And it left a guy confused on the other end. Like the apologies were nice and the dick pic entertaining (because who sends pictures of a sleepy half hard cock, Raleigh Becket apparently). But more than that it was the fact that Chuck was on Raleigh's mind that made it a little better. Chuck had gotten the messages but decided to teach him a lesson and ignored them well into the next day.

 

<< You got a funny way of showing it

 

Chuck finally answered. Raleigh's sleep-texts had been half gibberish but he'd gotten the gist of them.

 

<< You know, you're acting like I'm some dirty secret. I'm not aiming to get you in trouble fyi what's your problem?

 

Better to address it head on. Don't ask, don't get.

 

No reply from Chuck. Figures. Raleigh had probably pissed the kid the hell off with his hot and cold bullshit. Hell, he was acting like a chick or something. So he tried to focus on training. Let the burn of his lungs and muscles tear away all the doubts and frustration.

 

It's why he loved the ice. Things were simple on there. Head on. You knew where you were going, what you had to do, and any problems you fixed by smacking into em at full speed.

 

Serge still had them working off the summer dust, suicides followed by puck maneuvers and goal shots followed by a bunch of knockdown runs. By the time they hit three in the afternoon Raleigh was feeling a lot better. He'd missed this.

 

Serge came up to him, slammed his hand down on Raleigh's shoulder. "Good to see you back in the game, Becket. Keep it up."

 

Raleigh gave him an awkward smile. "Thanks, coach."

 

Duc's shoulder knocked into him as his teammate came to a stop next to him. "Yeah, you weren't completely shit, Ray. Amazing."

 

Raleigh grinned, shaking his head. Serge rolled his eyes. "Go hit the showers, boys."

 

Raleigh had learned his lesson; he kept his phone locked and stuffed into his locker. Especially since he'd added another dick pic to the collection of embarrassing shit on it.

 

"Ray! Dude, wake up!"

 

Raleigh looked up. Had he been that lost in thought? Chuck was really messing with his head.

 

"Whaddaya want, Casey?" Raleigh smirked, well aware he probably missed the first five times Adam had yelled his name.

 

"I said, you coming tonight? We're gonna haze the new scrubs."

 

Raleigh's face must've shown his complete lack of understanding.

 

"You got knocked on the head too hard? Shit man. New transfers. Two guys. Twins, apparently. Bruce and Trevin Gage. Gonna take em out to Bruins and test their alcohol tolerance. You coming or what?"

 

The Aces’ home bar shared a name with the nation’s top hockey team. It was an irony thing. Or maybe they hoped the Bruins’ success would rub off on them by virtue of the name. It was their own little in-joke.

 

A few more teammates pitched in. And Raleigh hadn't realized how out of it he'd been during the summer. "Fuck yeah," he laughed. "Make em eat ice." Having scrubs chew on ice cubes until they went white in the face was a thing. Harmless, yet hilarious.

 

Duc grinned. "You know it."

 

It wasn't until dinner time Raleigh checked his messages. And his heart sank. Fuck... Chuck sounded not just pissed off, but hurt. And he was being a huge asshole, wasn't he?

 

>> I'm sorry about the shit messages,

 

Raleigh started.

 

>> Coach gave me crap to think about I guess. Not my strong suit.

>> just... season is picking up soon and I can't be...

 

Raleigh swallowed hard. His eyes were stinging. Fuck. He really was like a chick, jesus.

 

>> I can't be there as much. No webcamming, you know, none of that

>> I guess there's gotta be plenty of hot guys in Sydney

>> and you're pretty fucking hot

>> you don't have to be some older dude's dirty secret

>> know what I mean?

 

Ha. Raleigh didn't even fucking know what he meant. Christ.

 

His phone bleeped a familiar tune at him. Yance. He answered.

 

"Hey. Yeah. No, going out with the team tonight. Some hazing stuff. Scrubs, you know how it is." He paused, letting his brother ramble. "Sure, I'm up for early pizza. See you at the house in ten? Kay man. Bye."

 

Raleigh sighed. Busy evening. Probably for the best. The less time he had free to think about Chuck and the mess that was turning into, the better.

 

 _Some older dude’s dirty secret_.

 

There it was in plain black and white like a fucking kick to the teeth. Raleigh wasn’t just busy, he was trying to say good bye. Trying to break the whole thing off. And as much as Chuck shouldn’t care, he does. And as much as he should have known this would happen it still feels like a slap in the face. He wasn’t good enough. Too young, too far, not interesting.

 

“Fuck you,” He spat, reading the lines again before throwing his phone down on his desk. “Fucking prick, fuck off.”

 

<< Fuck you

 

He typed out, but somehow it didn’t carry the weight he wanted. Delete. He thought there had been more, here. Not necessarily a friendship, but _something_. Something that maybe could have been..

 

Chuck stared at the phone for a long time thinking about what he would say, if he should say anything at all. He left it for a while, fuming.

 

<< Cunt

 

Angry, yes, but it still didn’t carry the right weight. He wanted something that would really sting. Delete.

 

<< It must be exhausting getting bored of your toys so easily.

 

There we go, the perfect mix of passive anger, accusation, and guilt. Send.

 

This was a lesson learned the hard way. People like Raleigh? There was no way they’d be interested in a guy like Chuck. This proved it. This was never, had never been, anything more than surface level fucking around. He had other things to be focusing on. He had school and his own sport and getting into Uni to think about. He had friends, well, he had Mako and a few people he played Rugby with. He had Max. He was fine. He didn’t need some hyped up halfwit hockey player on the other side of the planet making him feel like shit. Someone would be fucking lucky to have him. Someone who maybe actually _liked_ him as opposed to keeping him as a secret, personal wank bank. He didn’t need Raleigh fucking Becket.

 

So why did it hurt so bad?

 

Raleigh had just shoved a slice of pizza into his mouth, grinning at some story Tendo was coming up with about one of the nerds in his class, pretending he had a clue what it was about. Yancy was opening a few beer bottles. Allison and Kennedy had come over — some kind of weird situation where they used to date Yance and Tendo before either of them had climbed out of the closet, and instead of it turning into some awkward clusterfuck, the five of them had become some college-level gay dudes and their faghags real-life sitcom.

 

His phone piped up. He was stupid enough to check it.

 

His pizza suddenly tasted like crap and it’s like something cold and sharp had wedged its way in between his ribs.

 

_No. Fuck, no. That’s not what it was like —_

 

But it was good if Chuck thought of it that way, right? Chuck was hurt. But… he’d keep his distance. Move on. Forget about Raleigh, who was just some old ass pervert at the other side of the world who had no real significance in Chuck’s life. Shouldn’t have any. Chuck deserved better. He was going to ignore the message. Ignore Chuck. It was for the best.

 

Yancy was staring at him. “You okay, Rals? Looking a little pale there.”

 

Raleigh looked up. “Yeah, it’s — it’s nothing.” He put his phone back in his pocket, put the slice of pizza down and reached for the beer.

 

So he might have downed a few more beers. Cheaper before he got to Bruins. And it was only a few blocks from his place. He could walk. Raleigh lazily swaggered into the bar, where the party was already going by the sound of it.

 

“Raaals! Hey guys, look who decided to crawl out of his room!” Adam strutted up to him, slung an arm around his shoulder and dragged him into the group. The fact that he’d spent a lot of nights at home behind his laptop rather than being out and partying as usual hadn’t gone past his teammates. Raleigh managed a smile. It was time to rectify that.

 

He stubbornly tried to ignore the still-cold lump in his chest that the beer hadn’t been able to wash away. That was fine. He just needed more beer.

 

Then his gaze fell upon two handsome guys sitting at a table across from one another, a line of tequila shots and a bucket of ice cubes in between them. Must be the new transfers. Raleigh walked up to them.

 

“Evenin’, scrubs,” he grinned, trying to get into the spirit of the event. “‘m Raleigh Becket, number 11.”

 

They turned their heads towards him in sync.

 

Whoa — definitely not ugly. In fact… shit, the two of them were totally Raleigh’s type. All jaws and dark messy hair and cocky smirks.

 

Raleigh swallowed hard and smacked the side of the bucket with the flat of his hand. “Ice ‘n rise, gentlemen!”

 

A mouthful of ice cubes and a shot for every teammate that introduced themselves — that was the start of it. They twins would be wasted by the time they’d seen all twenty of them, though they were lucky enough that not all guys were able to attend.

 

Raleigh himself stuck to beer, his head getting more swimmy and the temperature in the room seemingly rising as more alcohol made its way into his blood. He was trying very, very hard to not think of Chuck.

 

“Who’re you texting?”

 

Raleigh looked up blearily. One of the twins. “Bruce, right?” he mumbled.

 

“Trevin,” the guy replied.

 

“The hell do you tell you guys apart anyway,” Raleigh said, rolling his eyes.

 

Trevin smirked. “I could tell you, but then I’d have to show you.”

 

Raleigh squinted. “Uh, okay?”

 

Trevin got closer into his space. Raleigh looked around the bar. It seemed like… actually, it seemed like most of the team were gone. What time was it? He hadn’t really noticed. “Where is everyone?” he muttered.

 

Trevin shrugged. “Bruce threw up, like a pussy. Some of the guys are helping him home. Some others got into a stupid argument over the Aces last season’s playoffs —”

 

“Oh, that shit again,” Raleigh said. Duc had bodychecked one of the opposing team’s guys hard enough to break something, probably a little rougher than he should’ve, and it got pretty ugly — bad press for the Aces, which is why it was surprising to have the Gages new on the team. Serge must’ve convinced the board to throw money at the problem. And Raleigh could believe it to work. The Gages were kinda charming, charismatic, the way they smiled and moved together. In fact, it was pretty rare to see them apart. But it seemed Trevin could hold his liquor better than his brother. Much like Yance on him, really.

 

He should be heading home. But home was… home was sobriety and a phone with shit he didn’t want to read. He’d been staring at the screen. He wanted to text Chuck back, at least… say _something_ that could convince the kid Raleigh wasn’t such a huge asshole. But he was. But he didn’t fucking like feeling like he was, or whatever…

 

Raleigh tried to stand up. “Whoa,” he mumbled, losing his balance.

 

“You’re as poor with liquor as Bruce,” Trevin grinned. He grabbed Raleigh’s arm to steady him.

 

That little contact sent a weird jolt down Raleigh’s spine and he sought Trevin’s eyes. Fuck, this guy was too handsome. And Raleigh was… too goddamn smashed for this.

 

“Liquor?” He didn’t recall drinking anything but beer.

 

“Jesus, yes,” Trevin replied. “Halfway through the night you started babbling about showing us how it was done and you shoved your head into the bucket before downing three shots.”

 

“Huuuuh?” Raleigh brought a hand to his head. “Don’t fucking remember—”

 

“After that you mumbled something about texting and waddled off into the corner,” Trevin went on.

 

“Pretty sure I didn’t waddle,” Raleigh complained. He kind of wanted to go home. He was starting to feel sick. He kind of didn’t want to go home, too. Trevin had stepped closer to him. Was pretty much supporting at least half of Raleigh’s weight with his arm around Raleigh’s shoulder.

 

“You live around here, Raleigh?” Trevin went on.

 

“11th Avenue,” Raleigh replied. “‘cross the park, near East…”

 

Trevin flipped out his phone and checked the route. “Fifteen minute walk. Eh.” He brought his face ever closer to Raleigh’s. “Y’know, I got a room in the Hilton right on the corner. Pretty comfortable and toasty up there. Bar’s about to close and all.”

 

Raleigh narrowed his eyes. He was drunk. Not a fucking idiot. Most of the time.

 

“That’s some dishonorable intentions there, Trev,” Raleigh said, but not pushing the guy off. He felt nice and heavy around him. The bar was dark and getting a little chilly. About to close. Right.

 

“Like you haven’t been checking out my ass all night, Ray,” Trevin shot back.

 

Geez. These California guys did not fuck around. Or they _did_ fuck around. Raleigh knew what it was like. Though generally — not as much action going on within the team. He’d certainly tried to keep his dalliances outside of the team _and_ other fucking teams because really, if pics of a Australian almost-minor on his phone were enough to get him into trouble, hooking up with a rival player was a recipe for disaster.

 

“Gonna take advantage of your drunken teammate? Gotta say, Trev, I thought you a man of morals,” Raleigh went on.

 

Trevin’s hand was on Raleigh’s phone, which Raleigh was still clutching during this whole incredibly _weird_ conversation. He was increasingly aware that Trevin Gage here was trying to pick him up. He just hadn’t made up his mind on whether he wanted to be picked up.

 

“And when you weren’t checking me out you’ve been staring at your phone like a kicked puppy all night,” Trevin went on. “Whoever’s got your panties in a twist,” Trevin hooked a thumb into Raleigh’s belt loop, “I can make it _all_ better.”

 

Jesus Christ.

 

Chuck’s words shot up from his chest into his mind like ice. Like Chuck was there, saying them. He could hear the damn accent.

 

_must be exhausting getting bored of your toys_

 

It stung. It fucking stung, way more than it had any right to.

 

Trevin was here and being absolutely _not_ nice, but also being big and warm and strong and very very convincing —

 

“N-nah,” Raleigh mumbled. “I gotta… gotta head home… yeah?” He gave Trevin his best puppy eyes. He wasn’t sure how much more of the guy’s pushing he could handle. Giving in would be nice. It would be good and hot and maybe just that perfect edge of painful — he could ask Trev to really give it to him, make his head blissfully empty, and…

 

He was pushing Trevin off him, like an idiot. But a damn _decent_ idiot. Somewhere along the line Yancy hadn’t entirely failed in raising them, apparently.

 

He dialed his emergency contact. “Yance, can you pick me up? Bruins, yeah. So fucking wasted, man. Feels like I got three legs. … No, ‘m not talking about my dick, jesus. Hurry up and shit.”

 

Raleigh met Trevin’s gaze again, which was an odd mix of disappointment and bemusement.

 

“Hurry, huh?” Trevin said, a little ice to his tone. “I’m not gonna drag you off to my man cave against your will, Ray. Settle down.” He let Raleigh go to drag a chair from a nearby table and plopped him down on it. “See ya at practice tomorrow.” And with that, Trevin grabbed his coat and spun off.

 

Raleigh slumped forward, elbows on his knees. So Trevin Gage was a giant jerk. Good to know. Apparently didn’t give a shit about Raleigh if he couldn’t fuck h—

 

“Shit,” Raleigh mumbled.

 

Must be kind of how Chuck might be feeling, or something.

 

He’d typed in and sent a string of badly spelled texts before what little sober consciousness he had left somewhere could stop him.

 

>> s not like that

>> i likled you

>> not justa toy to me chukc

>> youre good

>> your different then them

>> please anser??

 

* * *

 

“You are very popular,” Mako said as Chuck’s phone made a steady stream of noise over lunch. The cafeteria was noisy but the persistent ping, ping, ping, of his phone was easily heard.  Chuck shrugged and grabbed it out of his pocket to read through the notifications, brow furrowing as he read them.

 

Fuck this. He didn’t have time for this.

 

“It’s nothing,” He said, thumbing through them before laying the phone face down on the table.

 

“I doubt that,” she persisted, moving to grab the phone but Chuck grabbed it first.

 

“Fuck off, don’t!”

 

“Chassuuu, what are you hiding?!”

 

“Nothing!”

 

“Nothing would be passive. This is not nothing.”

 

If looks could kill she would be in the ground. Chuck turned the phone over in his hand, scowling at the device.

 

“It’s nothing. I was kinda talking to someone and they’re being a prick about everything.”

 

“A romantic someone?” Mako asked, nibbling the end of a crinkle cut fry. Chuck was upset looking, sure, but past that he was also blushing something awful and _that_ was interesting. And her question only made him blush harder and look more upset.

 

“It’s none of your business.”

 

“Ah, so it is. Who is it? Casey?”

 

“ _No_ , why would I date her?” Chuck shot back, shoulders holding a tension that had been building since his phone went off.

 

“Mmm because she is desperate to go to the graduation ball with you?”

 

“Like I’d ask her. I’m not even going.“

 

Mako looked amused and ate the rest of her fry before picking up another, reaching across to roll it in the mix of ketchup and mayonnaise Chuck always concocted for the eating of potatoes.

 

“You’re not? Pity,” she said with a small shrug. “I was hoping to know someone there.”

 

Chuck looked a cross between stressed and bemused. “You’re seriously thinking about going.”

 

“I thought it would be a nice experience..”

 

“Prom. You want to go to prom. Mako, you _do know_ that prom is a bunch of washed up American bullshit.”

 

“You’re only saying that because you don’t have a date.”

 

“Fuck off I could have a date!”

 

“Mmhm.”

 

"I don't-" he sighed and grabbed a fry from her basket. "I don't wanna ask someone unless it means something because then they'll think we're dating and I don't want to deal with that. I'm not interested in anyone."

 

Mako made a soft humming sound and raised an eyebrow. "You are interested in _someone_ , though." She said and glanced at the phone.

 

"No one here. He- _they,_ " Chuck quickly corrected, flushing hard and glancing around to make sure no one was close enough to overhear his slip up. "They're in America. In _Alaska_. And it sucks."

 

Mako's eyebrows were pinned high on her forehead but she had the foresight to know how vulnerable Chuck was making himself having told her this, and knew making a comment would only make him shut down. And that wouldn't be any fun at all. Instead, she leaned forward a little, silently prompting him to elaborate.

 

"It doesn't matter, anyways. Its nothing serious."

 

"But they are a prick.."

 

"Yeah." Chuck sighed, inwardly debating whether or not to fess up. In the end Mako always won. She was, after all, his only friend. "Right. Okay. So we've sorta been like, texting a lot? And sending videos and pictures-"

 

"Dirty pictures?" Mako asked.

 

"No!"

 

"Yes."

 

"Maybe. Whatever, okay? Shut up."

 

Mako snicked. "Continue."

 

"Well, so, I dunno? It wasn't supposed to be anything but it kinda feels like it is and then out of the blue they just..stopped talking to me."

 

"That is prickish..." Mako nodded.

 

"That's not even the worst bit. Like I guess. Right, okay so they're a little older? I guess and at Uni but also they play hockey. And I guess their coach found their phone because the muppet left it out, idiot, and now he's totally busted."

 

Mako winced at the revelation, hissing with a sharp intake of breath.

 

"Chassu, you could get in trouble for this..."

 

Chuck gave a half shrug, pushing the remains of his lunch around a little. "I think I'm okay but now he won't even talk to me. Or when he does he gives me whiplash with all the hot and cold." He kept his voice low but was obviously getting upset. Or rather he was already upset and had been for quite some time but this was really the first he'd said any of it out loud. And admitting this kind of stuff was nothing short of terrifying. Once he said the words that was it. They existed. It was real.

 

"He'll all be like trying to break it off but then apologizing and then blowing me off again." Chuck said, picking his phone back up and scanning Raleigh's onslaught of drunk apologies. "I don't like being jerked around."

 

"No, of course not," Mako said, brows lightly furrowed in thought. "May I see?"

 

Chuck looked at her for a long _you better not fuck this up for me_ before unlocking his screen and handing it over. Mako, to her credit, didn't say anything embarrassing or even laugh at the dick pic from the other night. She scanned over the most recent conversation and considered it for a moment. What a mess.

 

"Raleigh. Hmmm...."

 

"See what I mean? I don't know what to say."

 

"Mmmhm. He is a prick, Chassu. But so are you. Would you want to keep talking with him?"

 

"Oi-" Chuck began but gave up and simply shrugged, tugging a frustrated hand through his hair. "Yeah, I guess. But not if, like-"

 

"No, I understand. You don't want to be used. May I write something?"

 

"Absolutely not gimmie-"

 

"Too late," Mako chirped, dodging Chuck's attempt to grab his phone and typing something before handing the device over.

 

"Mako!!" Chuck snatched it and looked at the message. It had sent but, looking at it, he probably couldn't have come up with anything better.

 

<< Prove it

 

Mako smiled as though she were perfectly innocent, nibbling another fry as she watched Chuck reflect on what it was that just happened. His scowl turning into a blush and then into some sense of resignation and even vague pleasure. Leave it to Mako to know what to say.

 

"I have solved your problem for now, you must help me with mine."

 

"W-what." Chuck said, attention snapping back to Mako as he cradled his phone against him. "What do you want."

 

"You know what I want."

 

"Aw..Mako no."

 

"Mako yes. I want you to go to prom with me."

 

Chuck groaned, pitching back in his seat before coming back. "Mako, I don't wanna go-"

 

"You do. And I will be your beard. Its win win."

 

She had him cornered. They both knew it. And the only reason he didn't have to agree was the sudden lunch bell obnoxiously screaming that it was time to get to their next class. Chuck breathed a sigh of relief and grabbed his backpack, rapping his knuckles against the table before snaking a handful of her fries and stuffing them into his mouth as he made his escape.

 

"Sorry, Mako, I gotta go. Cheers for the help."

 

Mako had a free period after lunch and so stayed where she was- watching the retreat with amusement- secure in the knowledge that she had already won.

 

Three hours of sleep, maybe. Four, at most. Raleigh’s head felt like someone had filled it with concrete and tiny trolls were drilling into it with jackhammers. And his alarm rang, loud and unforgiving, at 6:00 am. He plucked his phone off the floor and poked at the screen with clumsy fingers trying to make the annoying sound stop. And just as he’d succeeded at that task, his message screen popped up.

 

He didn’t remember texting Chuck an array of sadly typed pleas, but it was the kind of thing he’d probably do, given enough liquor and not enough common sense. Usually someone would stop him. Usually. He vaguely recalled being somewhat abandoned at the bar by that new guy. Gage. Trevor or Trevin or whatever. Raleigh groaned. Trevin was a massive dick. Or had a massive dick? Maybe both? Then Yancy showing up and dragging him home.

 

So, a thoroughly embarrassing night, then.

 

Raleigh glanced at his phone again, willing his eyes to focus despite the droning pain in his head.

 

_Prove it_

 

Felt like a sharp spike went through his chest at those words. Halfway painful, halfway desire. Weird. Prove it how?

 

Raleigh got up, producing a lot of pained noise, dragged himself into the shower. Yancy had actually bothered to undress him and tuck him in. He should probably make some kind of gesture to thank his big brother, for the billionth time this happened. There wasn’t a whole lot else to do in Anchorage over the summer.

 

Prove it how?

 

Raleigh brushed his teeth, knocked back some painkillers, tried to make himself at least marginally presentable.

 

Prove it _how_?

 

For some reason his stomach felt tight when he walked into the locker room and spotted the new guys. The one on the left was Trevin, right? Something about the way he looked at Raleigh. Most certainly how he signaled Raleigh to stay back with a nudge of his head whilst the rest of the guys went out onto the ice. Raleigh gritted his teeth. He wasn’t entirely sure what had happened the night before, but by the way his body was tensing up, it couldn’t be good.

 

“Hey,” Trevin started, walking up to him. “I wanted to apologize for last night.”

  
Raleigh feigned knowing what exactly the guy was talking about, and folded his arms across his chest. “Let’s hear it.”

 

Trevin pulled a hand through his hair. “Yeah, I said some inappropriate shit… I kinda get that way when drunk. Let’s forget about it, all right?”

 

Raleigh raised an eyebrow. He was _really_ curious now what kind of inappropriate stuff had been said the night before. “Get what way? A huge jerk?” A random guess, based on his gut feeling. He was a creature of sense, after all, and his instincts were usually right. That’s what made him a good hockey player.

 

_(Prove it how??)_

 

Trevin shrugged. “Yeah… I come on all aggressive, and… well, usually Bruce pulls me out of it, but…”

 

Raleigh laughed. “Usually Yance prevents me from doing dumb shit, too.”

 

“Your brother?” Trevin inquired.

 

“Yeah,” Raleigh replied. He slapped Trevin on the shoulder. Maybe a little rougher than he would otherwise. “Try to kick that habit, would ya? Don’t wanna have to call the cops on you or some shit, dude.”

 

Trevin grimaced. “Yeah.” He started walking out of the locker room, but turned around just before he got through the doorway, as if he’d suddenly thought of something.

 

“I wasn’t completely full of shit though, Becket,” he grinned. “You’re a good-looking guy.”

 

Raleigh was used to compliments like that. From people who weren’t his teammates. His cheeks flushed, maybe out of second-hand embarrassment, because _seriously Trev._

 

“No dates with teammates,” Raleigh blurted out with a stupid grin.

 

Trevin raised an eyebrow at him and laughed before he vanished into the hallway.

 

Raleigh frowned. What a pain in the ass. Not in the good way. He dug through his locker, making sure his phone would be safe and secure. Tapped on the screen and stared at it again.

 

_Prove. it. HOW!?_

 

He glanced at the clock. He was already late for practice, but he could blame that on his hangover. All he needed was a few minutes. Raleigh ducked into the bathroom, locked the door behind him, pulled his shirt up and his pants down as far as he could with most of his gear on — which was about halfway his thighs. Exposing his abs and his dick, which was mostly soft, but…

 

He didn’t really know what else to do. Did Chuck expect some sort of romantic declaration of love? That’s not — Raleigh didn’t do that. Not when… they hadn’t even met. But he wouldn’t be opposed to meeting. It’s just — this was what he was able to give Chuck right now, what he’d always given Chuck. Maybe it didn’t make sense. But this kind of shit, he hadn’t done with anyone else, either.

 

Raleigh took a snapshot of his abs and dick and tucked himself back in, shifted his clothes back on, before sending the photo to Chuck.

 

>> Only for you

 

He tapped send, right before a part of his brain decided to stop hurting and start waking up.

 

_Hold on a fucking second. What the fuck is that supposed to mean? You were supposed to break it off, not — fucking encourage him, you complete moron —_

 

Once again, he found he couldn’t delete sent messages.

 

Raleigh thudded his head against the door in desperation. “Ow. _Fuck._ ” Another bad decision. Maybe he should give up on today. Clearly, he had the cognitive ability of a toad.

 

When he slogged onto the ice five minutes later, Serge just about threw the puck at his face. “BECKET. GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE. NOW.”

 

Everyone’s heads spun around to stare at Raleigh as he skated over to coach like a kicked puppy. Fantastic.

 

“Coach, last night was—”

 

“I don’t want to fucking hear it,” Serge roared. He swept his arm towards the team. “The whole team’s got a goddamn hangover and _they_ strap their blades on and get on the ice on time.” He brought his face closer to Raleigh’s. “You’re scratched from the next fucking game, and if I find out you’ve been texting your little _boyfriend_ again on practice time I _am_ fucking scratching you from the whole goddamn season, Becket. Is. that. clear?”

 

Raleigh swallowed hard. “Yessir.” Fuck. _Fuck_.

 

“It fucking better be,” Serge hissed. “You’re running an extra hour of suicides and laps after today’s practice.”

 

Raleigh’s face fell, but he didn’t argue. There went movie night. His own damn fault. “Yes, sir.”

 

“Now get the fuck out there.” Serge crossed his arms and gave Raleigh another death stare.

 

The ice felt colder than usual that day, and by the time he got home, his lungs and legs burning, he slumped right past everyone on the couch and into bed. When Yancy came knocking on his room a minute later, Raleigh groaned a sad “hangoveeeer” before burrowing himself deep into the pillows and duvet.

 

He needed to get his shit together. He really, really needed to get his shit together.

  
  
  
  
  



	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chuck and Raleigh grow further apart as they focus on their own lives.

Prove it.

 

The dare had hung over them from thousands of miles away. Through satellites and wifi and 4G. What are you to me. What do you want to be to me. What is this?

 

What are we doing?

 

And in the end Chuck wanted something real and got more of the same and yet something completely and wholeheartedly unsettling. And in the end he shouldn't really be surprised at all.

 

And it set a pit in the bottom of his stomach that refused to go away.

 

Because nothing would ever be simple, would it. Not even a bit of fun on webcam. It had become real now. Feelings were involved (much to Chuck's dismay). Raleigh could have said anything. He could have said no. He could have said goodbye. But no, his glorious response was a hurried, flaccid dick pic and three words that had managed to burrow down in Chuck's chest in a way he didn't understand. And they _hurt_.

 

>> Only for you

 

What the fuck was that supposed to mean. How the fuck was he supposed to respond to that? What did you say? Was it playful? Was he simply overthinking it like he _always_ did with _everything_ that was deemed even remotely important? And what did it mean that he considered this guy important at all.

 

In the end, Chuck found that he couldn’t think of anything good to say and the amount of energy he was devoting to trying to think of one was just too much. He only had so much life force and giving it all to Raleigh bloody big dick Becket wasn’t the most vital one. He had to focus on school. Real life. _His life_.

 

But it hurt.

 

It twisted and cut and dug deep in his chest, pulling on lungs and ribs, keeping him up at night looking at chat icons and ‘ _last seen_ ’ notifications.

 

Only for you. What kind of bullshit was that, anyway. And so he tried to put it away. Considered uninstalling his messaging apps, changing his online stuff, maybe even his email. Just delete himself from the world. But then, as the voice in the back of his head loved to remind him, Raleigh wasn’t the one chasing you. You were chasing him. He probably wouldn’t even notice if you did all that and it would be such a pain in the ass.

 

The other half of him said to just carry on. Put his shoulders back and puff out his chest and not give it a second thought because hell, he _is_ a catch. And who wants to be some random weirdo’s dirty secret. Not him, that’s for sure (though the shame and allure of that were at constant odds).

 

A third, small part of him wondered how far he could push. If he could corner the guy and lolita the fuck out of him. Schoolboy this, and barely legal that. It wasn’t anything real, why not have a bit more dirty fun. This didn’t mean anything. At all.

 

This doesn’t mean anything.

 

_This doesn’t mean anything!_

 

>> Only for you

 

What a bastard.

 

So he left it. He left it and buried it with other messages to other people. Because that response wasn’t at all what he wanted. A sorry would have sufficed. A sorry would have been good enough. And deep down he knew this is a valuable life lesson and he should take what he could from it and run, but it still came creeping back in the dead of night. It still struck him awkwardly in the back at practice, catching a glimpse of himself in his uniform. It roused all the burning questions and inadequacy worries all over again in the blink of a sadistic eye. Too young, too far, could this have been something? Was there anything here at all?

 

The toy he bought was shoved in the back of his closet. Unopened and unused. It had lost its appeal.

 

There was something sour in the back of his throat, now. He briefly considered trying to wash it out with someone else. Someone new, but Chat Roulette felt dirty. He didn’t want to cam with strangers. He didn’t know anyone in _real_ life. But that was something he could change. He could go out, right? Not really considering he was underage. Did he know anyone who’d want to fool around? Not really. His friends were limited to a few casual acquaintances and Mako and he’d been there and done that and simply put he just wasn’t worthy of her majesty Mako Mori. So he decided to approach it the way any sane seventeen year old desperate for a distraction would. Pick a target. Zero in. Acquire target. Success.

 

And while there weren’t many guys he knew he could approach, there was good ‘ol Zeke.

 

Zeke Amarok. A senior. And if Chuck was comfortable saying a man was gorgeous, he would gladly apply it to him. He played Lacrosse, was tall, strong, and… okay. He was handsome. Chuck never made the connection between his Alaskan (dickhead) Friend and Zeke’s Inuit heritage, but he might be horrified if he had. Instead, he focused on the curve of his ass and his easy smile. Deep, dark eyes and close cropped hair. But most of all he focused in on the fact that he knew Zeke was a member of the Gay Straight Alliance and he’d never seen him with a girl, ever. So chances were pretty high. He also knew that Zeke smoked, and took his lunch break to sneak to the very farthest corner of the campus and then go across the street where the school couldn’t touch him to hurry down a cigarette with the few other rebels in the same situation.

 

Target acquired. Location acquired. All he had to do was secure. And really? It was as easy as asking for a light. Get him alone, Chuck thought. After school, on the corner at the edge of the grounds. Maybe walk with him a bit. Make nice. Say...whatever, did it matter? And at the first convenient moment back him somewhere private. Get in close. And say... _nothing_ , god, why don’t you learn already? This isn’t Raleigh! You can touch this guy, come on!

 

So touch he does. The palm of his hand pressed flat and wide on his chest, the cigarette he’d stolen from his dad’s secret pack dropping to the ground unsmoked. And they kissed. And for one blissful, head spinning moment the bitterness in his mouth was gone. For one moment he thought it’s going to be okay. And he kissed him again, holding for a beat to feel the pain fade from his lungs. The weight he hadn’t realized was bearing down so hard fell away and he gave a great sigh. Hands slid up into Zeke’s hair. Plush lips parted, teeth nipped and tongues explored. And everything, for that moment, for the next moment, and the next, was alright.

  
  


The Alaskan Aces’ opening match of the hockey season was in their hometown; a stroke of luck for most of the team, who could delay packing up and saying goodbyes for a few more days. Not for Raleigh, who had to sit this one out. He straightened his shoulders as he walked to the bench right before the game was about to start. This _sucked_. Half the town was in Sullivan Arena, most of whom were only just catching on to the fact that Raleigh wasn’t playing. There were three more locals on the team — Jessop, Casey and Flint — but Raleigh knew he was the town’s favorite. Knew it now, more than ever, as he heard the muttering of disapproval, felt their eyes on him as he plopped down on the bench.

 

He’d worked his ass off the past few weeks, showing up on time — hell, _early_ — every single practice, chasing the puck across the ice until his muscles burnt and his bones hurt. It felt good. _He_ felt good. It’s like he’d shaken off some kind of haze he’d been in, hiding behind his laptop screen, all that shit he’d done with Chuck… it had felt good at the time, but he’d been unfocused. Lazy. Lost sight of what really mattered.

 

And looking at the guys on the ice going up against Cincinnati Cyclones — whose asses they’d kicked during last season’s play-offs — shit, this was a game he really wanted to be in on. Instead, he was sitting there doing fuck all.

 

Raleigh gritted his teeth. He wasn’t going to mope and feel sorry for himself; it was his own damn fault.

 

Coach came up to him and clasped him on the shoulder. “Becket,” he smirked. “You really stepped up this month. Good work, kiddo.”

 

Raleigh gave him a lopsided grin. He knew what Serg was trying to say — they'd both rather see him out on the ice, but at the same time, the disciplinary measure had done its work.

 

“I see you put Flint on point,” Raleigh answered. Right wing forward. His position. “Dude’s gonna eat ice.” His way of saying he knew being missed from the game was on him, and putting Flint in his place was less optimal.

 

Serg laughed. “Maybe.”

 

A whistle blew through the stadium. The game was about to start. Raleigh spotted Yancy and Tendo across the rink and gave them a mock salute, two fingers waving away from his forehead.

 

He recalled the conversation they’d had last night.

 

_How’s your boyfriend, Rals? Haven’t heard much lately. Coming from your room, I mean._

 

_Who? Also, shut up._

 

_That webcam kid? You know, when I walked in y—_

 

_Oh — again, shut up — yeah… you know. I gotta focus on hockey._

 

_Glad to hear it, kid._

 

Everyone seemed to approve of his renewed vigor for the game, and why not? Raleigh recalled the last text he’d sent Chuck — an embarrassing dick pic, of all things — and he hadn’t heard anything back. Just as well. It’d been a fucking stupid response, and just… he’d probably pissed Chuck off enough to stay away from him. That was good. The kid could do better. An 18 hour time difference was really impractical, too.

 

If he just kept telling himself that, eventually he’d get rid of the memories he had of their… whatever the hell it had been. The way they’d watched each other on camera, the filthy stuff they had done, the way Chuck had fingered himself open, how Raleigh had shown Chuck his favorite toy, the way Chuck had looked into the bathroom mirror as he jerked off just for him —

 

Forget about it. He should forget about it. It had been… immature, lewd bullshit. Online. It didn’t mean anything. They hadn’t even met.

 

The noise from the crowd swelled up and Raleigh tried to focus on the match. One of the Cyclones was getting whistled off for cross-checking one of the Gages — which one? Left forward — Trevin.

 

Trevin was cool. He hadn’t hit on Raleigh, after that one night. Well, not really. Perhaps some comments and looks, nothing more. But enough to tell Raleigh that if he’d changed his mind, Trevin wouldn’t be averse to the idea, either.

 

Focus. He had to focus. Hockey mattered. His sports career mattered. The puck, the ice, the crowd, the team. That’s what he had to think about. That’s all. Focus on what was real, what was there, what he could touch. For all he knew, Chuck was… a figment of his imagination. Just memories.

 

The game ended a satisfying 4 to 3 for the Aces. Raleigh wouldn’t wish for his team to lose just to prove a point about how essential he was — his ego wasn’t _that_ big — and he practically got yanked to the locker room by at least two pairs of hands. Nobody seemed bitter about him sitting one out, and Raleigh was more happy about that than he’d realized. He hated the idea of letting his team down, and the win made sure nobody was gonna grill him for messing up earlier. He got pulled into the crowd in the locker room, all shoves and friendly shoulder punches and highfives.

 

“First win of the season!” “Hell yeah!” “Awesome moves there, Bruce—” “—you still alive after that bodycheck, man—” “Rals, come here!” “You didn’t fall asleep on the bench did you?” “We gotta celebrate, come on—” “Bruins or what?” “Fucking Bruins, dude, all night!”

 

Raleigh laughed, the good cheer of his teammates infectious, and before he knew it they were at the bar, doing shots and hanging out with a few local puck bunnies. Well, the girls weren’t _really_ puck bunnies — Kaori was Duc’s girlfriend anyway, and Kate and Anne always hung out with them after the games. Might as well be one of the guys the way they could handle themselves. Bruins was a lot more crowded than usual, a lot of locals coming in to say their goodbyes to the team. The season would take them all over the East Coast Hockey League with not much time to see family and friends, and in addition to celebrating the win the night was also a send-off party.

 

So it wasn’t very surprising he found himself hanging around Yance and Tendo, wedging himself in between them, laughing and joking and as more beer went in more exclamations of adoration came out — _I love you bro, I really do, I’m gonna miss you, Tendo my man, imma miss you too, lemme buy ya another round…_ camera flashes went off, selfies and drunken pictures taken with smartphones, new memories to last them through the season and play-offs. They were packing up tomorrow and taking a flight to the next match in Orlando. Other side of the freaking country.

 

The bar was crowded, but Raleigh’s eyes kept drifting towards Trevin Gage — and it hadn’t escaped his notice that Trevin had been making eyes at him all night. But, true to his promise, had kept his distance from Raleigh. Especially now that Raleigh was losing track of how many beers he’d had, his head was feeling comfortably fuzzy and the room just the right amount of spin to it.

 

Raleigh found himself brushing past Trevin. Grabbing his arm in passing, hissing something. Meet me in the back? Raleigh couldn’t remember. Things were considerably more blurry after that. More drinks, more beer, Trevin’s smile, Trevin’s hands, the cold autumn air hitting him, looking up at the sky as they made their way to the hotel room.

 

It happened like that, Raleigh figured, as he woke up with a massive headache in an empty hotel bed. The toilet flushed and Raleigh sat up straight just as Trevin walked out of the bathroom in nothing but a towel.

 

Raleigh pulled a hand down his face. “Did we—”

 

“Yeah,” Trevin said with a smile.

 

Raleigh avoided his gaze. “Did we at least use—”

 

“Condoms, yes.” Trevin finished his train of thought. He grinned, walked to the mini-bar and took out a bottle of Gatorade, tossing it to Raleigh on the bed. Raleigh didn’t bother to catch it, even though his throat was parched and his lips and tongue dry.

 

“I, um… shit,” he mumbled.

 

Trevin let out a sigh, rolled his eyes, and took out a bottle for himself before closing the small fridge door. “It was a drunk fuck, Rals. If you don’t want it to be anything then let’s not make it anything, yeah?”

 

Raleigh finally met Trevin’s eyes. The man looked slightly worried, not mean or amused at this point.

 

“Yeah,” Raleigh said. Something else occurred to him. “The guys… did anyone see us leave?”

 

Trevin shrugged. “Not really, besides you pulling me away from the crowd at some point.” He sighed again, walking towards the bed. “Listen. This happens. We’re on the same team. No reason to make a big deal out of it. Besides,” and now the smirk made a comeback, “Seems like you needed it.”

 

Raleigh looked away again. “Whatever.” He knew. He slept around before. Why was this any different? It wasn’t. It shouldn’t be.

 

He crawled out of bed, well aware he was still naked, but at the moment he didn’t give a damn. He just wanted to get into the hot shower and wash away whatever he remembered of the past night. When he got out, Trevin had thankfully left the room. Raleigh checked his phone; only a single text from Yance.

 

_saw you leave w/ the hot twin — score?_

 

Raleigh raked a hand through his hair and sighed. Yeah, Yance. Score.

 

-

 

And so it went. Time moved forward. Neither Chuck nor Raleigh died of heartbreak. The sun continued to rise and fall. That was just the way things worked. Life went on and business continued as usual.

 

Games came and went. School continued and exams finished. And all of a sudden it was the end of year ball and Chuck found himself standing outside his father’s boss’ house in a suit holding a plastic box with two refrigerated orchids nestled in some of the ugliest cellophane tinsel he’d ever seen.

 

Zeke had asked him about going. A few times actually, but Chuck knew Mako had her heart on going and didn’t want to go alone. And for all her guts and glory she didn’t seem willing to find a normal date like everyone else. He couldn’t blame her, really. Most of the people at school sucked and she’d have another year to figure it out after he graduated.

 

So there he was, with a rented limo and three other ‘couples’ waiting on her door step. Zeke had said it was fine, that he didn’t care, but they’d been fooling around for months now and Chuck knew there was something to it. He just wasn’t quite so progressive that he wanted to show up to a ball with a man on his arm. Maybe in a few years but now? No.. no he wasn’t quite there yet.

 

He took a deep breath and rang the doorbell. Expecting Mako to answer but swallowing hard when he saw it wasn’t her at all.

 

“Mister Hansen.”

 

Chuck swallowed again and chanced a smile.

 

“Hi Marshal.”

 

“—That my boy?” A voice asked from inside and Stacker grunted a yes as he turned and opened the door to let Chuck in.

 

“Seems to be. Sharp suit.”

 

“Dad?” Chuck asked, sounding a tad indignant as he came in his father sidled out from what Chuck knew as the den.

 

“You didn’t think I wasn’t gonna see you off to prom, did you.” The grin on Herc’s lips was positively wolfish, not even trying to contain his glee at pulling a fast one. “Sneakin’ out like that. Risky business, boy.”

 

“I didn’t think you could move that fast, old man.” He shot back, a flush crawling up the back of his neck.

 

Herc scowled and opened his mouth when the smallest clearing of a throat broke the charge. All three of them turned towards the stairs where Mako had emerged. Slim and strong in a floor length navy dress. Gathers ran vertically up through the middle and split into a v which draped over her frame and joined at the shoulders with two pieces of embroidery. They were embellished with sequins and beads that joined across her back and held the back of the dress in a centered drape. Modest but elegant. It was the nicest dress Chuck had ever seen. And in that moment Mako was the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen. And if they were an actual thing he might have fallen in love with her right then and there.

 

Her hair was perfectly combed with two blue pieces at the front to frame her face. It was against school policy to have dyed hair and Chuck smirked at the small rebellion. Mako smiled back and took in the faces of the three stunned men standing below her before coming down the stairs, careful to keep from slipping or catching the heel of her shoes in the jersey which pooled onto the floor behind her.

 

“Hi, Chuck.”

 

“Ah, buhhhh…”

 

Mako laughed and stopped in front of him. She smiled again and looked at the box he was holding. A subtle nod for him to snap out of it and shake back into the real world.

 

“Uhh. You look amazing, Maki.”

 

“Thank you, Chassu.”

 

A soft joined laugh from their fathers made Chuck turn and glare before fumbling the plastic carton open and removing the flower.

 

“I don’t.. Um. How do I?”

 

“Here,” Mako said and took the flower, admiring it for a moment before slipping it’s elasticated band onto her wrist. Beside her corsage was another orchid Chuck hadn’t realised wasn’t attached and watched as she took it and pinned it to the lapel of his charcoal suit.

 

“There we go.”

 

Outside, the limo honked and Herc took out his phone.

 

“Right you two. Pretend you like each other,” he said and forced them into pictures. Chuck looked determined not to blink and stared down the lense like a serial killer. Mako smiled and took his arm. Their fathers consorted for a moment as to whether or not these pictures were good enough before Stacker pulled a proper camera from the hall cabinet and took several more.

 

The limo honked again.

 

“Alright, alright enough already! I’m blind!” Chuck protested and turned, steering Mako towards the door. She grabbed her clutch and out they went, both blinking spots out of their eyes from the flash.

 

“Don’t you touch a hair on her, Chuck.” Stacker warned as they made for the car. He grimaced and waved without looking back. Knocking Mako up on prom night wasn’t something he would have to worry about.

 

“Be smart!” Herc added. “Home by one!”

 

Chuck waved again. That wasn’t gonna happen.

 

“Angie woulda loved to’ve seen this,” Herc said softly, watching his boy try to escort Mako into the car. Stacker gave a soft hum in response, set his camera down and stood shoulder to shoulder as he sneaked a hand to rest on the small of the other’s back.

 

Herc stiffened for a moment but the limo was pulling away and he relaxed.

 

“C’mon. We’ve got the whole night to ourselves.”

 

“Right... right.”

 

The End of Year Ball, as it turned out, wasn’t half bad. It was a ball. Chuck guessed it was alright as far as those things went. They ate, they danced, he ditched Mako half way through to make out with Zeke in a broom closet. It was good.

 

The after party, though. That was when things really got going. Caitlin Lightcap’s parents were away on deployment and their house was empty. She’d already turned eighteen and so drinks weren’t a problem. The music was decent and the house was packed door to door with drunk teenagers.

 

“Chuck, hey,” Zeke called over the music and muscled between the rest of the rugby team to get to him. Already several pints back, Chuck looked up and gave a lazy smile.

 

“Hay is fer horses,” He answered, tongue drawling along the words.

 

“I wanna talk. Come here a moment.”

 

“Mmmmgood right here, mate. What’s up?”

 

Zeke frowned, brows drawing for a moment before smirking and leaning in. “Sure,” He whispered. “If you wanna suck my cock right here, Hansen. Whatever floats your boat.”

 

Chuck blushed and snorted, easing up from where he had been perching on the arm of a couch. “Ahh alright alright. Fine.”

 

Because who didn’t want to fool around a little. And, as it happened, Zeke had a great cock. Not that Chuck had all that many to compare against? But he liked it. And that’s what mattered. He stumbled a bit as they climbed the stairs and began hunting for an empty room. It ended up being the ensuite toilet of the master bedroom (which was off limits to the party), but it had a lock so they were fine.

 

“You alright?” Chuck asked once they were alone, pressing up against Zeke. He felt warm all over from the drink and began fumbling at the other’s fly.

 

“Yeah, I’m good. Your girlfriend know you’re up here with me?”

 

“She ain’t my girlfriend, you know that.”

 

“She’s your date.”

 

“Don’t mean she’s my girl.We’ve talked about this.”

 

Zeke grunted and guided Chuck’s mouth towards better uses. Chuck looked up and then scowled, pushing back against his hand.

 

“Seriously? You’re sore I didn’t go as your date.”

 

“No, forget it. C’mon, blow me.”

 

“Forget it? Mmmphppth!” Chuck sputtered as the other took advantage of the moment and nudged his cock against Chuck’s lips before he protested and swiped at his hand.

 

“It’s fine. Come on.”

 

And Chuck gave in. Whether by obligation or lack of give a fuck he didn’t know. But he had a feeling in the pit of his stomach something wasn’t quite right between them. Maybe because nothing was established and then all of a sudden Zeke was butthurt about being dates.. He didn’t know. He didn’t get the dating thing at all. He had more important shit to do but Zeke was just so very good at being distracting.

 

“Shit.. fuck that’s good.” Zeke hissed, threading his fingers into Chuck’s unruly hair and tugging him closer. He hit the back of Chuck’s throat and he coughed around his cock trying to pull back but Zeke didn’t let go and it took a firm punch to his side to get free and fall back, heaving for breath.

 

“You— drunk asshole!”

 

“Ow, shit Chuck. What the fuck!?”

 

“I couldn’t breathe, you dickhead!”

 

“Don’t be such a pussy. Come here and finish what you started.”

 

“No, fuck off.”

 

“Seriously? You can’t leave me like this.”

 

“I can and I am. I said _fuck off_.”

 

“First you ditch me for a girl who isn’t your girlfriend, you won’t date me proper, and now you won’t suck my cock?” Zeke exclaimed, drunken fury clogging his blood. “What kind of fucking boyfriend are you?”

 

Chuck looked at him for a moment. Stunned. “I’m not your boyfriend—”

 

“Well what the fuck are you?! I’m not your fucking toy, Hansen!” A breath and he stuffed himself back in his pants, tucking his shirt back in before storming towards the door.

 

“You know what?” He turned, door already open. “You’re nothing. I bet you’re not even gay, you’re just fucking around. I’m not gonna be your dirty secret! Fuck you. _Fuck you_ ,” Zeke hissed and slammed the door behind him.

 

“Aw go fuck yourself!” Chuck shouted after him and got onto his knees, swaying as his brain sloshed around in his head, the fluid in there having long since turned into vodka. There was no way in hell he was going to go after him and he groaned as he pulled himself up.

 

The bathroom was full of shit from the party.

 

“Off limits my ass,” He grunted as he spied a half empty bottle of raspberry vodka in the bathtub. There were condom wrappers in the trash and someone’s underwear hung over the showerhead. He snorted again and swiped the bottle, tipping himself into the tub and settling down, unscrewing the cap and taking a long swig.

 

“Ahh, ghad, tastes like shit..” Chuck grimaced as it went down but he shrugged and took another long swallow.

 

“Fuck him,” he grumbled out loud, kicking the sides of the tub a few times in protest before resigning himself to a night of camping in the bathroom. It wasn’t long before his cell phone buzzed and he groped for it, sliding the device from his pocket only to find it was just a google alert.   

 

**Google Alert! Search term [Raleigh Becket] received one new result!**

 

“Great..”

 

He clicked the article anyway. It was just another write up about his team with his name being listed in the players breakdown. Something...something something hockey blah blah special world tour blah blah, Chuck’s eyes were getting unfocused and he found himself not caring enough to read yet _another_ article about just how great the Aces were doing.

 

Fucking Raleigh. Fuck that guy. Seriously, if it weren’t for him he would have never hooked up with Zeke and whatever it was that just happened wouldn’t have.

 

_I’m not your fucking toy, Hansen! I’m not gonna be your dirty secret!_

 

The words were eerily close to some he’d thrown at Raleigh and a small chill ran up his spine. the urge to turn the shower on and just lay there in confused, crushing defeat was almost overwhelming. Instead, he held his phone close to his face and opened his messenger, re reading his last few messages with Raleigh from months ago.

 

“Fuck you,” Chuck growled, typing it out just for good measure. And then his finger ‘slipped’ and it sent.

 

>>Fucj you

 

“Ah shit..” He laid his phone on his chest for a moment and took a deep breath before picking it back up and taking another swig of vodka. And then several more. Until the glow of the screen was the only thing he could concentrate on and his face was numb.

 

>>your a cunr

>>you're such an asshole do you know thvat? are uyo actively aware of hxow muvch of a dickhead you are? because you're ea fuckngc cunot, mate.

>>i'm in a bathtub right now and it's completely youwr faumlt

>>your tgeam sucks

>>i hope you brak ur akle

 

A repetitive beeping noise disrupted Raleigh’s sleep, and he opened his eyes to the pitch-dark of his hotel room in Hong Kong. The Aces had lost the playoffs by a hair the last season, but Raleigh had made ECHL’s top scorer, and somehow this had resulted in him being part of an cross-league promotional world tour to attract foreign players. Raleigh had lost track of where and when he was with all the hopping from one country to the next, but somehow his insomnia had decided play nice with whatever timezone he was in now, and he was actually well on his way to catching some sleep when who the fuck ever had decided to text him at — he glanced at the red digits on the alarm clock — 3 in the morning. Probably Yancy who couldn’t figure out the freaking time of day. He had enough trouble being on time in his own city, let alone the other side of the world.

 

Raleigh reached for his phone on the nightstand and brought it to his face, blinking as the screen lit up brightly. He rubbed his sleep-dusted eyes to focus and then read the screen. Blinked, and rubbed his eyes again.

 

>> _Fucj you_

 

_Chuck??_

 

Raleigh’s brow knotted up in increasing states of confusion as the texts scrolled by, and all the drunken spelling would be hilarious were it not for Chuck calling him a variety of names.

 

How was Chuck being in a bathtub _his_ fault?

 

Raleigh flicked on the room’s night light and sat up in bed. Judging from the messages, Chuck was drunk off his ass. And blaming him for some reason. Raleigh raked a hand through his hair and sighed. Well, maybe that reason wasn’t too hard to come up with. But they hadn’t texted for months — Christ, almost a year. He’d moved on. Threw all his energy and focus into the sport he loved. Here he was, top scorer in hockey minor league, and not to mention he looked _ripped as hell_ now. He was doing pretty awesome. Except for that whole dry spell thing. Except for when he’d tried to hook up with Trev again the result had been significantly less than awesome. They were a poor match sober and after a third embarrassing encounter that had made Raleigh doubt his virility he’d just given up and channeled the rest of his frustration into sports. It had worked, if his rock-hard abs were anything to go by.

 

So he hadn’t gotten laid since November and Chuck was texting him drunk in the middle of the night. It’s not like those two things were related.

 

Raleigh’s thumb hovered over the screen of his phone. What the hell was he gonna say? Should he say anything? Maybe just ignore it? But then — what was this talk about being in a bathtub, which just nagged at him —

  
“Shit,” Raleigh mumbled as it dawned on him. Chuck wasn’t, like, doing anything crazy, was he? Something dangerous? Maybe he was sitting in a tub full of water with his phone, shitfaced and ready to drown. Maybe he was crying his eyes out, calling Raleigh an asshole, ready to drop a switched-on blowdryer into the water. Something like that. He’d seen that shit on tv. Maybe people actually did that. Maybe Chuck would — fuck. _Fuck_.

 

He’d pressed the Skype call button before his mind even processed the action. If something bad, really bad was going on with Chuck, he had to call, embarrassment and past shit be damned. If this was Chuck reaching out to him like that… he owed it to Chuck to answer.

 

There was the familiar series of beeps before the call connected.

 

“Um. Chuck? It’s me.”

 

The reply on the other end came first in the form of a faint rustling. Fabric and something glass hitting against something metal or maybe ceramic?

 

Chuck had been mid drink when the skype came through. Not expecting it, he fumbled to answer but dropped the phone on his chest, reaching to clumsily put the bottle back next to the tub. He could just about manage and shook his head a few times with a soft “Pbbbbbtth” as he tried to ready himself to speak.

 

Truth be told he didn’t realize it was skype until he picked the phone back up and looked at it. It was another moment before he realized it was Raleigh. That Raleigh had _called_ him. A chill would have gone down his spine if he were any less drunk. But he wasn’t. He was pissed as a fart and licked his front teeth with a grunt.

 

“Well. Lookis, Raleigh Becket!” he slurred, flapping his other hand as though Raleigh could see him.

 

“wha’d _you_ want. R _aa_ leigh. Mis.. Cat’n America fuckin’.. _asshole_.”

 

Raleigh swallowed hard. Chuck sounded absolutely smashed, the words thick and slurred on his tongue, barely legible through his Aussie accent. Raleigh ignored the insult, still worried about what state Chuck might be in.

 

“Are you okay? I mean — you’re not about to do anything stupid, are you?” Raleigh made sure he was speaking slow, articulated and hopefully loud enough for Chuck to hear him in his muddled state.

 

“Ay?” Chuck asked, still managing to mishear, momentarily distracted as he rubbed an eye. “ _You’re_ stupid.”

 

Raleigh groaned. Maybe it would help to ask about the very thing that was bothering him. “You’re in a bathtub? Is there water?”

 

“Uhhhh. Water— no. Ther’s a pair of grundies, though. Who leaves their grundies in the bath? Bettcha’ tenner someone’s leavin’ this party up the duff.”

 

Raleigh’s face scrunched up in the face of so much indecipherable Australian slang. No water then? That was good. So maybe Chuck had just been texting him — drunk, for the hell of it. Huh.

 

He felt a lot dumber for calling, suddenly. Here he was talking to this kid who — way back when, on Chatroulette and Skype and all that other stuff, and the pictures and videos, had fingered himself live on webcam for him, and just…

 

It barely seemed real now, a distant memory, like it had happened to someone else.

 

And yet, Chuck’s voice was there on the other end. Somewhere in Sydney, Chuck was laying nigh-plastered in a bathtub and had thought to text Raleigh of all people.

 

Raleigh was somewhat familiar with drunken texts. With how you always ended up texting that one person you couldn’t forget about. Yeah…

 

Small-talk, then? He could try small-talk.

 

“You’re at a party?”

 

“Uhhuh,” Chuck grunted, fumbling for that bottle again and giving a sour scowl to see it was much emptier than he’d like.

 

“End’f year ball after party. You call it prom, yeah? _Prom_. fuckin’ stupid word. Why’d— why’d you call me ‘nyway? Ngh? Shur’n got somethin’ better t’do.”

 

Prom? Raleigh paused. Ah… that meant Chuck had graduated.

 

He felt strange for missing it. Not — not sad or anything. That would be ridiculous. Yeah.

 

“Hey. Congrats on graduating,” Raleigh said, not really wanting to answer Chuck’s question.

 

He was answered with another grunt. The urge to let Raleigh know he’d made it had been nearly overwhelming at the time but it hadn’t made any sense. He had no obligation to tell Raleigh anything anymore. But speaking now came a little more free and easy.

 

“Ceremony’s in a week…gotta make a speech. ‘n I’m eighteen in August. Jus’s before I g’off t’uni.” Two months away. “Since we’re sharin’.”

 

Unlike Chuck at the moment, Raleigh had full clarity. He did awake or asleep; drowsiness wasn’t his thing, if alcohol wasn’t involved.

 

If Chuck’s eighteenth birthday was in August… that meant when they’d started talking, over a year ago —

 

He’d googled the age of consent in Australia back then. He really had. But that was no use if the other party was straight up lying.

 

“Christ,” Raleigh mumbled to himself, almost thinking out loud. Not like Chuck was hearing much of what he was saying anyway. “You were sixteen back then.”

 

“Ay? Whazit—” Chuck attempted to ask, forcing himself to sit up a bit in the tub by kicking at the other end. Somehow he noticed he’d scuffed his shoe up pretty bad and the cumburbund of his rented tux had disappeared. But Raleigh was saying something in his stupid thinky voice and Chuck crushed one eye shut in an attempt to listen. Sixteen.. back then. Back when?  Oh-

 

“Ah fuck.”

 

Raleigh bit his lip. “Er, yeah.”

 

_Change the subject, change the fucking subj—_

 

“So, erm, I’m in Hong Kong right now. ‘s pretty cool.”

 

Oh yeah, he was _really_ awesome at this small talk stuff. Amazing. Pretty cool? The vastness of it had overwhelmed him, endless skyscrapers full of people, crawling through the city as millions upon millions of ants — before this, they’d gone to Oslo, Kopenhagen, Moscow. Nothing as bizarrely huge and swarming with humans the way Hong Kong was.

 

Raleigh had been holed up in his hotel room pretty much the whole time, wishing he was back in Anchorage, in the small cabin he and Yance used to go ice-fishing, thermos bottles full of tea and soup with them.

 

Come to think of it, he was kind of homesick. He was used to traveling, sure — inside the US. Even when he was in Florida, he was still in America. Still American. Something like that.

 

Chuck was pretty quiet on the other end. Raleigh hoped the kid hadn’t passed out. Though that would be one way to end this awkward conversation.

 

“...Chuck?”

 

“Hnngh?” A snort and something like a tiny whine. “M’here. M’good. I’m just..really..fuckin’ pissed. Aces really are flyin’ all over. Wh’s the food like?”

 

“It’s not the Aces,” Raleigh explained. “Hockey league world promotion tour… thing.” What was their next stop, anyway? “The food’s all right I gue—”

 

Raleigh dropped his phone. It landed softly on the duvet as Raleigh flew out of bed, bolted to his bag and dug out the folded, crumpled piece of paper that had their tour schedule.

 

They’d flown them all towards the East Coast, then onto Europe — then St Petersburg, Moscow… then a long flight to Hong Kong…

 

_Melbourne_

_Sydney_

_Tokyo_

_Los Angeles_

 

Raleigh stared at the list for a good minute. It was right there. Why hadn’t he noticed before — why hadn’t he thought of…

 

Sydney.

 

He was going to _Sydney_.

 

He dashed back to the bed, grabbing his phone. “Chuck? You still there?”

 

No answer. The call was still active but there wasn’t a whole lot of activity past the faint sound of breathing and the occasional rustle. Somewhere, very far off, there was the constant thump of music.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mako is wearing [this lovely prom dress](http://www.promformal.co.uk/dark-navy-mermaid-v-neck-lace-floor-length-with-sweep-train-prom-dresses-prjt04-0149.html)!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raleigh has a little help from Aleksis in taking away his worries. Chuck mostly regrets his drinking decisions, or, not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An enormous and profound thank you to the people who read this story and continue to encourage us. We’ve both had a crazy year (or two) and on top of it Onlyoneday has had writer’s block since the last chapter update and was ready to throw in the towel. You readers who continue to give kudos and more importantly comment are the inspiration to keep going. Find our voices again and move forward. Thank you. 
> 
> \- jaeger_delta & onlyoneday

Raleigh plopped down on the bench in the Aces’ locker room in the Kowloon Bay Hockey Arena. He took off his helmet and bent over to untie his skates, going through the usual motions deep in thought, the usual talk and bustle of the other guys a distant murmur in his consciousness. Since the night before his mind had been occupied by a single question.

_Should I tell Chuck I’m coming to Sydney? Should I tell him? What’ll happen if I tell him? Should I?_

He’d been weighing the pros and cons in circles. He didn’t want to lead Chuck on anymore, not for a single second. The way things were going there was less and less room in his life for any kind of relationship, not until he started earning his keep. He hadn’t made the NHL draft when he was younger, had signed with the Aces shortly after, and had been struggling since.

If he was honest with himself, it was Chuck who had made the difference, in a way. He’d been confronted with his own poor attitude and behavior, not just during but also before his online dalliance with Chuck. _With the Australian kid who was in high school and also a freaking minor what the fuck was I thinking_ , his mind went on.

He’d pulled himself together. He’d worked harder than anyone else on the team, he’d made ECHL top scorer, he was part of this promotional tour and maybe — just maybe — he’d catch the eye of an NHL organization. When he’d started out, maybe hockey had been a fun sport to him, something he happened to have more than average talent in. Now though, he understood it. There was no such thing as luck. It was pure fucking hard work, practicing until you breathed, ate, drank, sweated, pissed, bled hockey. And there was no room in it for anything else. He’d given up his summer classes, any other hobbies, his dating life. His sex life consisted of hook-ups, a sort of disconnected mutual masturbation.

He didn’t want to think about how that made him feel too much.

  
And somehow at this point in the circle, his mind lingered on Chuck again. This random, chance connection made through a computer screen, a fiery, dirty, almost dangerous blip on the timeline of his life in the past few years. He wanted that feeling back more than he was willing to admit to himself.

_Should I tell Chuck I’m coming to Sydney?_

His eyes registered a dramatic change in light and he focused enough to notice Aleksis towering over him. The giant Russian had taken a quick liking to Raleigh for whatever reason, and the team had compared it to a black bear adopting a labrador puppy. To which Raleigh objected, because he was absolutely nothing like a puppy, and he had never heard such a thing in his life, definitely not from his brother and friends.

Aleksis ruffled his hair.

Raleigh sighed in defeat.

“You do lots of thinking,” Aleksis remarked in his thickly accented English.

“Yeah,” Raleigh mumbled, still not quite there, his mind running in circles.

Aleksis’ big hand tapped his cheek. “Wake up! Is good day, was good game. You need focus.”

Raleigh looked up — and then up some more, ‘cause Aleksis was a goddamn giant — and met his teammate’s gaze. He nodded. “Yeah, yeah. Just some stuff that’s on my mind.”

Aleksis grabbed his shoulder and shook him back and forth. “I mean it. Game was good, but you were bad.”

Raleigh winced; he knew Aleksis was right, he’d been a mess during the game,  and luckily the rest of the team had their shit together. But he’d cost them at least a point, which was bad enough. His heart hadn’t been in it, thinking about last night, about Chuck, and that was a pretty familiar and shitty feeling, too.

Why’d that kid have the power to screw with him so much?

“Damn it,” Raleigh mumbled. “Sorry man. You’re right. Thanks.”

Aleksis grinned. “You go out, drink. Get puck bunny, take worries away, yes?”

Raleigh gave him an awkward smile. There wasn’t a lot he could do with a girl squirming on his lap, but he hadn’t really divulged that info to the team. These were players from all over the world, and they might not react as favorably as the Aces. Still, the Russian had a point. He could use a little R&R to take his mind off of Chuck.

“Yeah,” Raleigh said. “I’ll do that.”

“Good, good!” Aleksis patted his cheek again and then turned away.

Raleigh took a deep breath, but the harder he tried to will away his thoughts, the more they stuck in his consciousness.

Back in his hotel room, freshly showered, shaved and smelling nice, Raleigh sat down on the bed and checked his phone.

Chuck hadn’t texted him anything since, leaving only the badly spelled evidence of last night’s bender on his screen.

>> _Fucj you_

_> > you’re such an asshole_

He definitely was, clearly. There was not much okay with how he’d treated Chuck. Especially now that he knew Chuck had been a minor which honestly, made him feel a little ill. Raleigh frowned.

_Should I tell him I’m coming to Sydney?_

His chest felt heavy and tight, his thumb hovering over the bottom of the phone screen.

One way or another, it seemed like Chuck hadn’t forgotten about him. And one way or the other, Chuck still sent him reeling.

>> Hey Chuck. Not sure if you remember last night. Hope you’re ok. Just wanted to tell you that I’m coming to Sydney

Raleigh paused and bit his lip. Why the fuck was this such a big deal.

_Because if I tell him, I’m leading him on again._

“Fuck,” Raleigh mumbled, planting his head in the palm of his free hand.

He carefully deleted the last bit of his text.

>> Hey Chuck. Not sure if you remember last night. Hope you’re ok.

That was doable, right? Chuck could see his own text history. It might be weird for Raleigh not to get back to him.

He really hoped Chuck wasn’t lying in a pool of his own vomit or something. He still was a little worried.

Raleigh pressed his lips together and his frown deepened, thumb close to the send button.

This was a bad idea. He should ignore Chuck again, forget about him, forget about all of it. He really should.

His thumb made contact with the phone screen, and the text sent.

And it was just as well really. Chuck had opened their can of worms so why shouldn’t Raleigh help tip it over onto the ground. That was his style after all. In Chuck’s opinion anyway, but what the fuck did he really know about the guy.

At this particular second he didn’t know much about anything. He knew vaguely he had woken up and left the party after the bathroom door was all but kicked down. He knew he somehow got home and along the way had managed to lose one of his shoes... His nice shoes... The nice shoes he bought to wear to Important Things like job interviews and tech conferences and...other...important...things... Shut up.  


He knew he had woken up in his own bed feeling like a jackhammer was drilling between his eyes and he knew, now, after hours of puking his guts out and wishing for death on the bathroom floor, that he hated high school with his entire being and he couldn’t wait to never see any of those fuckwits again. Least of all _Zeke_.

The mess came back in little bits and pieces the longer he laid and thought about it. His dad didn’t seem to be home and if he was then he sure as shit wasn’t letting Chuck know...or offering to help... And honestly Chuck wasn’t sure if he was pleased or upset about that. It wasn’t like this was the first time Chuck had been drunk but it was the first time he’d been drunk at a huge party that wasn’t supposed to be happening. It’s the first time he’d dealt with the consequences of a relationship- and who was he kidding he and Zeke were at least that- and it was the first time ‘fixing a problem’ didn’t involve just... Turning off Skype and never texting someone again.

But um... That didn’t go so well either, did it.

By late afternoon he’d showered and crawled back into bed. The house was silent and he ventured to the kitchen for toast and tea and then it was right back under the covers.

'The hell is dad? He kept thinking, but knowing what was good for him kept him from sending any texts.

He spent some time going through his travesty of a text history and groaned low and long when he saw the damage.

What the hell was he thinking.

He’d been doing so well.

And then he’d not done so well and in his moment of crisis he chose to not only contact but abuse the guy who, arguably, was at fault for all of this. With his great body and stupid beautiful eyes and all his stupid stupid caring!

“Fuck’s sake... ” Chuck murmured to himself as he scrolled through the texts. One of them was new and the concern was... well, it was sure something. “I wish I’d never met you.”

Something in him felt immediately guilty.

He liked to think he’d just stayed off the internet... Never gotten involved with Raleigh Becket, he’d still be living happily and repressed and that would be just fine. Just fucking fine, thank you very much. He didn’t need this. He didn’t need a _companion_ or a _love interest_ or _whatever_ , it was all just such a waste of time.

And more than a waste of time it was painful. He’d gotten hurt. Over and over again he’d gotten hurt.

_And he never learned_.

Maybe this was it. Maybe enough was really enough. He had hands, didn’t he. What did he need a partner for anyway. And why was it whenever he thought he needed or wanted something like that it was blonde and blue eyed and lived a billion miles away to break his goddamn heart.

Finally he worked himself around to the concept of answering Raleigh’s text.

Raleigh who was so worried that he’d called him.

Raleigh who was excelling at his sport and being trotted all over the world like some kind of demi-god.

Raleigh who... had lead him on but tried to ‘do the right thing’ and yet... Here he still was giving a shit. Here they both were still giving a shit.

>>ngl feel like shit

Might as well answer honestly. What else did Chuck have left to lose?

Why not find out, right? Fuck it, yolo.

>>Sorry I had a go. It wasn’t actually about you.

Not entirely, anyway. Did that make it better or worse?

Raleigh didn't drink. He was an athlete, or trying to be. But it had been many hours since he'd heard from Chuck and by now he was very worried the kid had somehow choked on his own vomit and died somewhere. The more time went by the worse Raleigh felt, and Aleksis kept pouring him drinks.

Raleigh vaguely recalled his hands on the hips of some puck bunny squirming in his lap, doing absolutely nothing for him because he was gay as hell. More drinks. Aleksis laughing. Somehow, he'd made it back to his hotel room.

Raleigh blinked slowly and rubbed his eyes. Something was off.

There was a noise next to him.

Raleigh turned his head (which, by the way, was giving him a constant dull throb of pain, like a hammer being knocked against the front of his skull every other second).

There was another person next to him. This person, upon further inspection, had long hair and breasts.

“Uh,” Raleigh said.

He wasn't straight. Or bi. He would remember if he liked pussy, really. Raleigh was starting to feel a little nauseated.

“Um,” Raleigh continued his vocalization of his emotions.

The woman next to him turned on her side, towards him, and then her eyes slowly opened up.

Objectively, she was an attractive woman, Raleigh thought. Long dark hair, grey eyes, full lips, ample breasts.

He was definitely nauseous.

“Hey baby,” she said with a smile and a thick accent.

“Er,” Raleigh stammered. He should probably try to form words at some point. “Uh, this is...” He pulled a hand through his hair and discovered that the follicles on his head also hurt.

She looked up at him expectantly.

Raleigh had a distinct feeling of déjà-vu. He closed his eyes for a second. His memory slowly bubbled up from the depths of his consciousness and he groaned.

Raleigh should really do something about his habit to wake up in a hotel room next to people he didn't want to sleep with during the day.

“Uh,” Raleigh started again, “Did we, er, you know...”

The woman sat up, the sheets sliding off her. There were naked breasts in front of him. This situation was not getting any better.

She leaned forward, and Raleigh leaned backwards in response.

“You sleep,” she said. “But your friend pay, so I stay.”  

Raleigh mind went blank for the couple of seconds it took to process this new information.

He wasn't in bed with a puck bunny. He was in bed with a hooker.

Okay then.

“OK, uh, you can leave now?” Raleigh mumbled. How did one generally do this? He didn't know the etiquette for dealing with sex workers.

“Who is Chuck?” the woman asked.

Raleigh blinked. “What?”

“In sleep, you say, Chuck, no leave, Chuck, please,” the hooker continued.

Raleigh groaned. “Yeah, ok, uh.... Look, thank you and all,” he went on, getting out of bed, and luckily he wasn't naked, because he wasn't sure he could process being in bed naked with a professional who was also distinctly not a dude. “I, uh, gotta shower and do stuff, so you can go...”

The hooker looked a little annoyed, but when Raleigh didn't say anything else and kind of gestured towards the door, she sighed and pulled back the sheets — dear god, those were definitely lady parts — and swiftly squeezed back into the little dark red dress she'd left next to the bed. She put on impossibly high heels, fixed up her hair, grabbed her purse, then went into the bathroom.

Raleigh wasn't sure he'd ever felt more uncomfortable in his life.

The toilet flushed and she came out, throwing him a last glance, and definitely checking him out up and down.

“This Chuck,” she said, “Lucky girl.”

The hooker winked at him and thank god finally left his hotel room.

Raleigh sagged down on the mattress.

Jesus H. Christ, what the fuck.

Raleigh grabbed his phone, ready to text Aleksis - it HAD to have been Aleksis - when he spotted the message from Chuck.

Oh.

Raleigh was pretty much done thinking things through at this point. His entire morning seemed like a bizarre alternative reality. So why not. Why the hell not.

<< Glad to hear from you

<< hangovers suck right

Chuck had said something wasn't about Raleigh but Raleigh wasn't sure he wanted to open that can of worms. Best to just make small talk.

Still, though. If the past 24 hours were any indication it's that they couldn't forget each other. Drunk and stupid. Raleigh swallowed. Fuck it, he thought. Just... fuck it.

Glad though, was he really, Chuck wondered when he got the message. A surge of something in his chest when the notification came and oh boy that was not good news.

He shouldn’t be feeling that kind of shit anymore. Not for Raleigh. Not for anyone if he had his way about it.

Raleigh was glad to hear from him.

Chuck reasoned he was maybe more relieved to hear from him... as messy as he’d been.

>>Still alive

Everything hurt but there was that so....yay. Still, he couldn’t help but let the chip on his shoulder do the talking.

>>You can forget I exist again. Sorry to ruin your night, cowboy.

Raleigh couldn't help but feel a little better when the message icon appeared on his phone. Stupid, he thought. But... man, he'd tried. He ended up in bed with a prostitute. And before that, Trevin. Just... no. He wanted this. Maybe it was a really stupid idea all over again, but he wanted this.

<< I can't forget

<< I'm sorry

And it struck Chuck in a way he wasn’t prepared to process.

Downstairs he heard the front door close and the scampering of nails across the hardwood floors. Ah, he thought. Dad’s taken Max for a walk. That made sense.

The tak-tak-tak of nails turned in the whump-whump-whump of Max bounding up the stairs which turned into the snuff-huff-puff of their dog nosing his way into Chuck’s room to jump up the shoeboxes his master had used to make a small doggie staircase. Max nosed at his master’s arm and jumped up to get at his face, electing a small groan from his fragile human who rolled over and grabbed his dog up in a hug.

It was like Max knew Chuck’s heart was in his throat. Max always knew stuff like that.

“C’mere handsome,” he cooed, smoothing his hands over Max’s tank of a body, stopping only to clean a bit of gook out of the bulldog’s eye as he bathed in the affection.

“You’re alive,” came from the doorway and Chuck looked up to see the utter smugness on his father’s face. Arms crossed lightly over his chest.

“Can’t kill a Hansen,” Chuck answered and wrestled Max down to lay on his chest.

“You sure about that?”

“What, you looking to use me as a guinea pig?”

“I never said that... ”

“No but that’s fucked, you get that-”

Herc rolled his eyes and turned to leave.

“Yeah, boy. I reckon a lot’ve what’s happened in the last day is fucked. Don’t think fer a second we aren’t discussing the party at Caitlin’s house later.”

Ngh. Great.

“Dunno what you’re talking about,” Chuck answered defiantly.

Herc pressed his lips, restraining the smirk of watching himself as a teenager in replay. Chuck was so much like him. Poor fucker.

“No... ” As he finally turned and headed back down the hall. “Course you don’t. I must be mad.”

“Losing your marbles, old man!” Chuck called but knew he was in for it later. How any of them thought a massive party would go undetected by the military’s super efficient ring of hover parents was beyond any of them... he hadn’t even thought about it.

Turning up wasted in the middle of the night probably didn’t help but he didn’t remember getting home or what happened after so...he could only guess.

“Christ,” he grunted. Max looked at him and cocked his head to the side.

“You were in on this, weren’t you.”

A soft snuffle which Chuck interpreted as indignant and he picked his phone back up. Jesus Raleigh... What was that supposed to even mean. How was he supposed to answer that?

Two words came to mind and however long he thought about it nothing better presented itself.

>>Prove it.

Ouch. A sharp pang shot through Raleigh's chest at being reminded of his past fuck-up.

His thumb hovered over the digital keyboard.

Was he really going to do this?

Raleigh licked his lips, swallowed the lump in his throat.

Because he _could_ prove it, this time.

<< I will

<< I'm coming to Sydney.

<< Two weeks from now.

Pretty much the last thing chuck ever expected to read. He thought as best it would be another dick pic or some beautiful, dirty words. At worst it would be a jumbled apology and Raleigh would block his number.

This was... Well shit this was something else. It was almost...scary?

“Fuck off” Chuck said aloud with disbelief. Max looked at him.

“Not you, lovely.”

Oh. Okay.

He dragged a hand through his hair, palms threatening to clam up.

Raleigh was coming to Sydney. Soon. For real it was actually happening but-

But what would he actually even want from Chuck. To fuck him? Chuck had never— And Raleigh was so experienced— And what did it mean and what would it mean emotionally and he was just visiting anyway so what would that mean for the future?

It was too many questions Chuck couldn’t answer. A lot he wasn’t sure he wanted to answer. One thing was glaringly clear...this was going to end in tears. And yet.... And yet it wasn’t enough to make him put the phone down. Instead he thought it over for a moment, lips pressed against his knuckles.

>>Send me your itinerary.

Raleigh frowned. What did Chuck mean by that? Sure, he was going to go to the same city. But Sydney was huge. He didn't feel much like sharing more details. Hell, for all he knew Chuck was some kind of psycho obsessed with Raleigh calling him in the middle of the night and he was going to stalk him and kill him. Worst case scenario, anyway. Realistically... if he was honest with himself, Raleigh didn't want to risk some kind of bad publicity. If he was gonna see Chuck it wasn't gonna be anywhere near hockey.

<< we could meet up for a drink sometime then?

Raleigh rummaged through the drawer of the nightstand and fished out his itinerary.

He was gonna fly in on the 25th, the game was on the 26th, and they'd fly out on the 28th, essentially giving him a whole day free to be a tourist. Or meet the jailbait Aussie who'd been yanking his chain this whole time.

<< I'm free on the 27th

That was good enough. Chuck thought for a moment maybe he’d jumped the gun but Raleigh answered so... That was something.

Christ, were they really gonna do this?

>>So am I.

A beat.

>>Do you really want to meet me?

Raleigh's skin tingled, his heart beat speeding up ever so slightly.

Go big or go home, right?

<< Yeah.

<<  I wanna do more than just meet you.

Chuck bit the inside of his lower lip, feeling a curl of heat in his belly.

It felt like validation. Finally. _Finally_.

>>Like what?

Raleigh took a deep breath. A familiar warmth coursed through his body. This, he knew. It's what he'd been craving so much. The pull of it, the excitement. But this time, he'd be smarter about it. He knew better than to let this get anywhere near or between his hockey. He wouldn't screw it up again.

<< I'd get you alone somewhere.

<< Kiss you, for starters. Taste you.

<< Pull your hips toward me and grind slowly, feel you get hard.

One part of his mind was still yelling that this was a bad idea.

Raleigh pressed send, anyway.

It was a vicious cycle with them. An addition of something exciting and extraordinary. Enticing and just that little bit dangerous.

This felt so much better than Zeke. What that said about Chuck he didn't know.

>>I'd get hard against you

It felt so familiar to craft these messages. To build a beautiful fantasy. This time... this time it might actually come true.

>>Take your jeans down. I wanna feel you.

Raleigh bit his lip and glanced towards the door. Before he was gonna do anything else, he'd better make sure the hotel staff wasn't going to be part of the audience. He put the ‘Do Not Disturb’ on the door handle outside and then plopped back on the bed, propped up the pillows and laid back against them. In the meantime, it seemed his headache had left the room along with the hooker.

He took another deep breath and cupped himself through his boxers.

“Fuck,” Raleigh hissed through his teeth.

<< I shove our jeans down, grind against you. You're so hot.

<< cup your ass and pull you closer.

Chuck smiled to himself and resettled in bed, easing  Max gently off of his chest.

“Go find dad,” he says. Max eyes him for a second before jumping up and trotting off. There's a good lad.

>>I like it when you're handsy. Like you want me bad.

<< I do.

<< I'm so hard for you right now, Chuck.

At which point chuck got up to close and lock his door, kicking his pj pants off on the way back. There was a  brief consideration to the toy stuffed in the back of his closet but he wasn't quite brave enough... maybe by the time Raleigh got to Sydney.

God damn, _Raleigh was coming to Sydney._

Feeling warm and fuzzy in the way only Raleigh could make him, he nestled down and took himself in hand, typing one handed... which proved difficult but worth the effort. It was especially good knowing Raleigh was right there waiting on the other end.

>>Me too, love... press right up against you nice and warm. We kiss and I can feel how hard and big you are. Skin on skin.

Admittedly he hadn't written this kind of stuff in a while.

>>What are you gonna do to me?

Fuck. _Fuck_. This fucking four-letter word that did way more to Raleigh than it had any right to. And he knew that right now he was thinking with his boner but Chuck calling him _love_ was just... and Raleigh could imagine how it would sound from Chuck’s lips, in that delicious Australian accent of his.

Raleigh yanked his boxers down and groaned when he wrapped his hand around his cock. Fuck, he’d missed this.

<< Gonna tear those clothes off you, get us naked, lick and taste you all over

<< get my mouth on your nipples, your abs, your cock, your ass, I want to taste every inch of you

And as long as Chuck had been watching Raleigh's lips on webcam... he could almost feel them across his skin.

Fuck it, he couldn't type like this, breath hitched in his throat, cock prone and hard, blood rushing in his ears. One press of his thumb and he was calling.

Raleigh hit the green accept call button so fast he nearly dropped his phone. It automatically switched to front-cam video, so the first thing Chuck saw of Raleigh was definitely his dick, before Raleigh steadied his grip on the phone and brought it up to his face.

“H-hey,” Raleigh said, suddenly very self-conscious of how he must look, terrible hair, fading hangover, still sleepy. He was kind of vain and it had been a while since anyone had looked at him the way Chuck was looking at him now. With those piercing eyes and those lips and jaw and god Chuck had only grown to be more stunning.

Raleigh licked his lips, his flash of awareness being pushed aside by how incredibly horny he was.

His hand waved the phone screen down again. He knew he had rock-hard abs from all the training, the V of his hips more defined than ever, and his cock was hard and leaking.

“Look what you did to me,” Raleigh said, before bringing the phone back up to his face, eager for Chuck’s reaction.

Oh jesus god _fuck_

“Christ... ” Chuck answered, a little breathy, voice hitched in his throat. It made sense, of course Raleigh worked out... but god _damn_.

He immediately put his hand through his hair, gently biting his lower lip, pink and plush. A very similar flush of self-awareness passed through him but what could he do, Raleigh had sprung the camera on him.  It was too late to not look like shit.

Instead he cleared his throat. “Looks good.”

Lame, Chuck.

“You look good, Ray.”

Raleigh couldn’t suppress a grin. Apparently he didn’t look as bad as he thought. And he knew that on a good day, he looked _good_. Puck bunnies were all over him all the time, to the envy of the rest of the guys, and to their frustration, because Raleigh never took them to his hotel room. The resulting rumor was that he was a true gentleman, which was something he could live with.

But Chuck looked good too, from what he could see. He threw Chuck a heated gaze and jerked his head upward a little bit in a come-hither gesture.

“You don’t look so bad yourself. Show me more.”

Chuck did not think this out.

“M’hung over, dickhead” he answered with a smirk, shifting in his spot a little but holding the camera back further. Naked, flushed with a galaxy of freckles across his shoulders and a gentle rug of ginger on his chest. He'd be a beast when he was older, but for now he  was benefiting from looking older than he was. He always has, really.

Panning the same way Raleigh had, Chuck flexed with all he had, free hand squeezing the base of his cock for maximum effect.

“You been missin’ me, Ray?”

Raleigh groaned at seeing Chuck’s dick. It had been too long since he’d seen one that wasn't his own, in particular Chuck’s, which was... a very nice-looking cock by Raleigh’s standards, and fuck, he was so goddamn thirsty.

“Yeah,” Raleigh said, and he gave Chuck the most intense gaze he could muster, glancing up at the little camera above the phone screen. “I have.”

He licked his lips.  
  


“Wish I could get my mouth on your cock right now.”

Chuck smiled. God he'd missed this.

“Yeah?” Chuck purred, letting the camera linger as he stroked himself.

“Soon, baby. Then I'm all yours.”

Raleigh’s heart skipped a beat or two. Yeah. Two weeks from now, he could _actually_ get his mouth on Chuck. Jesus, that was real. It could be real. If he didn’t fuck it up, anyway.

Raleigh began to pump himself faster, eyes fixed on the screen, watching Chuck do the same. Right now he just felt raw desire, not only for the image and the very very attractive young man’s body he was looking at but for _Chuck_ , for that mouthy Australian kid who’d called him drunk in the middle of the night giving him shit, who dressed up his dog on Chatroulette, and Raleigh remembered all too well how Chuck had fingered himself for him on camera, those sweet moans, the flush on his face and shoulders that made his freckles stand out just as they did now. All the memories he’d tried to shove into a box in his mind somewhere and try to forget about flooded his consciousness and he physically ached to see and touch Chuck. His cock throbbed in his hand and Raleigh’s breaths became labored.

“Fuck... I can’t wait to see you,” Raleigh husked. “I couldn’t stop thinking of you, you’re so fucking hot.”

He was stripping his cock faster now, babbling.

“That tight little ass of yours, can’t wait to taste it, eat you out until you can’t take it anymore, and I wanna take your cock — nngh, Chuck...”

His hips began to thrust upwards into his fist as Raleigh got closer. “Tell me,” Raleigh gasped, “Tell me what you want to do to me.”

“I'm gonna fuck you through the mattress,” Chuck answered, battling to keep focused enough to form words and still play with himself. Hearing Raleigh breathe that kind of dirty shit made Chuck shiver. It was so much better than how people in porn did it. This was tailor made for him, and Chuck only wanted the best.

“N’- hh- you can eat my ass if you want but you're gonna swallow this cock first. Get my hands in yer hair,” his accent slipped a little into the lazy drawl he tried so hard not to replicate, not wanting to sound like his dad. Like some bogan yokel. Still, sometimes he couldn't help it and luckily he didn't think Raleigh could really tell the difference. Not that Chuck was doing much thinking just then.

“Get yer lips at the base'a my cock, Ray, m’gonna fuck yer throat, yeah.”

“Yeah, that's it, make me take it,” Raleigh gasped. His abdomen flexed with the effort of fucking into his fist and he had trouble keeping the phone steady.

He wanted to give Chuck more dirty talk but his mind blanked out, caught up in the pleasure of touching himself in front of someone else, and Raleigh ached with the need to come.

“So close,” Raleigh groaned. He hoped Chuck was enjoying the view.

And of course he was. When his own eyes weren't closed with bliss. He was close as well, but getting Raleigh off always made getting himself off so much better.

“Come for me, Ray,” Chuck managed. “I'll take it all, swallow every drop, baby.”

_Fuck._ Just the thought of Chuck swallowing his come, the idea of pearly-white drops on those beautiful lips — Raleigh stifled a moan and then he was coming, hips stuttering upwards, hot liquid splashing all over his abs and chest. He kept pumping until he was empty, his mind blissfully gone from the momentary pleasure.

He basked in it, the glowy feel of the orgasm staying with him. He hadn't felt this good since — well, the last time they did this.

Raleigh’s grin was big and genuine when he brought the phone back up to his face.

“That was so fucking good,” he panted. And the sight of Chuck on the edge of his own climax was something to behold.

He'd gotten used to holding the phone while they did this kind of thing and Chuck kept the camera towards his face for now, smiling slowly into it, shoulders moving, one arm finishing, he was so close and seeing Raleigh come, seeing the look on his face, oh it was beautiful. Raleigh was beautiful. What Chuck did to Raleigh was beautiful. It felt valid. Worthy. Like he was special.

Following not far behind, Chuck came with a soft gasp, eyes closing, lips parted, brows drawn and a bead of sweat at his temple. His father was home and he needed to be quiet, which he largely to his own great relief. Mind dizzy with bliss he tilted the camera down and around, cock in fist and covered in seed as he pumped slowly in his last remnants of bliss.

“Look what you do t’me,” Chuck rasped, wetting his lips. He felt amazing. Comfortable and edgy at the same time. God he'd missed this. And maybe it was relief or the surge of confidence but he drew the camera back to his face as well as his sticky hand, considered it for a moment and locked eyes down the lens as he licked the back of his come covered hand from the tip of his thumb to the tip of his pointer finger in one long, messy drag.

“Jesus Christ,” Raleigh mumbled, his half-hard and softening cock giving a feeble throb against his thigh.

He didn’t know why he’d even fucked this up. Well, hockey, yes. But for fuck’s sake, look at that kid, he thought. He wondered if Chuck even had the slightest clue on how attractive he was. Raleigh couldn’t take his eyes off him. Two weeks? He was gonna count down the days.

“That’s... fuck,” Raleigh attempted, his mind not really good at assembling words right now in his post-orgasmic haze. “You’re so sexy.”

Then Raleigh just about dropped his phone when there was a loud knock on the door, followed by several more, like someone was trying to break the goddamn door down. That could only be—

“RALEIGH! IS AFTERNOON! TIME FOR AWAKE AND FOOD!” Aleksis’ voice thundered from the hallway.

“Shiiiiit,” Raleigh hissed, scrambling to pick the phone back up. “Chuck, sorry, I gotta go,” he said, putting the phone back up to his face.

Raleigh paused even as Aleksis’ knocking and motivational speech continued.

“That was good,” Raleigh said. “I missed it.”

_Come on, get the words out, asshole_.

“Missed you.”

Panicking over the mere second of vulnerability, Raleigh quickly ended the call.

But it felt good. Chuck stayed still during the commotion and wiped the come in his mouth back onto his hand. Raleigh hung up too fast for him to say anything but Chuck would have been speechless anyway. Tongue numb from his own seed, heart clenched with the words out of Raleigh's mouth. And it felt so good. So so good.

Chuck pawed for his boxers to wipe himself clean and laid back, feeling satisfied, _really_ satisfied, for the first time in way too long. He'd text later but first a nap.

Ten minutes later Raleigh stepped out of the shower more refreshed than he’d felt in weeks, maybe even months. Like a huge weight had fallen off his shoulders. He didn’t want to think too much about what that meant, but he couldn’t help it; he was stupidly excited about meeting Chuck, being able to really touch him, kiss him, and more. There was a weird nervousness in his belly that wouldn’t go away.

He quickly got dressed and made his way to the hotel lounge downstairs where the rest of the team was having lunch, and _of course_ Aleksis had saved him a seat and was gesturing for him to come sit.

Aleksis pulled him in with an arm that could just be made of steel and covered his mouth with his hand to whisper.

“So how was night, huh? I think good because long sleep, yes?”

Raleigh paled. This wasn’t the right moment to tell Aleksis _what the fuck were you thinking putting a prostitute in my bed_ and certainly not the right time to tell him _btw I actually like dudes_.

Something that was kind of the truth might work to tell lies, though.

“Uh, no,” Raleigh mumbled. “I passed out and she left in the morning.”

Aleksis’ expression turned to one of disappointment. “What!!! I tell her to stay! I get money back!”

“Dude, dude!” Raleigh protested, waving his hands up to calm Aleksis down. Their teammates were starting to stare, very interested in their argument because there wasn’t a lot else going on. And drama was always exciting. “It’s fine, okay, thanks, but it’s fine.”

“Hmph,” Aleksis muttered. He let Raleigh go and Raleigh was thankful he could properly breathe again.

Their teammates looked a little disappointed that the discussion had fizzled out, and went back to their lunch.

Raleigh quickly checked his phone, but no message from Chuck. He hoped the kid wasn’t mad for Raleigh hanging up on him so fast.

Two weeks, huh, Raleigh mused as he shoved the Hong Kong mac & ham soup into his mouth along with the scrambled eggs on the side. Melbourne first, then Sydney. Then Chuck. Just two weeks.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chuck and his family 'celebrate' his graduation with a dinner, and Chuck celebrates being reconnected with Raleigh with a... special toy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG ANOTHER CHAPTER!
> 
> We love all the love our long-neglected fic is getting from y'all and we're already busy writing the next chapter! Keep reading and commenting, awesome readers like you guys make writing porn even more worth it.
> 
> xoxoxo jaeger_delta and onlyoneday

The third week of June couldn’t come fast enough.

He’d reconnected with Raleigh. Chuck had survived prom and was just about surviving his father’s wrath for the after party.

It was the 15th now and two days after the ball. A Monday. The last official day of school, and Chuck couldn’t wait to pack his locker.

It was eerily quiet in the halls as he did it, not needing to attend classes except to say goodbye to teachers if he wanted. Half the seniors didn’t even show up and Chuck felt a sort of longing for the good times he’d had over the last four years. All in all, he guessed, it wasn’t really that bad.

He’d done well with his grades and well in sports. They won their last game of the year, his application to the Australian Defense Force Academy had been accepted through its partnership with the University of New South Wales, and everything was looking good.

“Have you spoken to Zeke?” A voice asked from Chuck’s side. He hadn’t even heard Mako approach.

Chuck shook his head. Way to be direct. “I’m not sure I want to.”

“You didn’t want to talk about it on the way home and I won’t pry but Chassu... you were a mess and if he’s done something horrible...”

“Nah, Maki. It’s fine, yeah? We’re just not gonna work out. It was the raspberry vodka that fucked me, not him.” Chuck said and roughly thumbed his nose before shoving another book into his rucksack. It felt weird to discuss boys but then again Mako knew everything about him... more or less. She had listened to his questioning and confusion and helped him navigate through some uncharted, scary realisations both in person and abroad. It would be Mako’s support... and now meeting Raleigh, that would eventually convince him to be proud of who he was and not care who knew about it, as dangerous as that could be in the military. He considered it for a moment and turned, leaning on the frame of his locker and looking at his friend. His dearest friend.

“Being honest?” Chuck replied, voice softening a little. “It’s for the best. We got into it over something stupid and we're about to go away to uni so it’s better it’s over.” He shrugged lightly.

“You don’t seem very torn up about it,” Mako observed.

“Guess I’m not...” Not with Raleigh coming back into his life.

Chuck had sent Zeke one single, damning text before blocking his number.

>> You don’t get to treat me like you did. Saw your true colors and don’t like them. We’re over.

“How are you gonna survive without me next year?” Chuck asked instead, turning to focus to Mako. She noticed the shift and mirrored his half shrug.

“That is assuming we will still be here. We’ve already extended twice. I am not sure what Sensei is working on but he is reluctant to leave.”

Chuck pressed his lips thin for a beat as he thought. “Well. Whatever it is... it’s keeping both our dads outta our hair. Maybe you’ll stay out here for another year or two? Come join me at ADFA?”

“I have already applied,” Mako answered. “If I finish accelerated senior studies early over the break I can join into the second half of the first year.”

“Christ... No kidding.” But Chuck couldn’t help but be a little proud. He’d skipped a year because he was smart as hell and not moving around. Mako didn’t have much of a choice and even though she was smart as a god damn whip all the moving had kept her back in her actual grade. By all accounts she should be walking the stage with Chuck this weekend but... She wasn’t. They were both a little sore about that.

“So I’m not gonna see you all winter am I?” Lovely rainy and cool until school started again in September and began to head towards the scorching Aussie summer months.

Mako shook her head. “I will try my best. But my goal is to see you at school.”

“Fair enough. If I can help lemme know, yeah,” Chuck said.

“Always... Have you chosen a pathway yet?” Because that was how it all worked. You got in, you specified, you specified a little more, and then you joined the service as an officer.

Chuck gave a verbal shrug. “Engineering obviously, but then I’m thinking ARMO?”

Mako scoffed and rolled her eyes, folding her arms lightly over her chest. It was her off period. She didn’t have anything better to do. “Of course you would pick Armament. Who did I think I was talking to?”

“Keep up, Mori. _Obviously_ I’m gonna be a pilot but I want the background and the money ain’t bad either. Plus... they’ve got a global exchange so... Maybe I could travel a little. It sounds fun.”

“Ah... Chassu, you really want to go into active duty?” That took her back a bit.

“Well...” A beat. “Yeah. Course I do. I wanna get out there. Do something.” He was aching for it, actually. Aching to make a difference. Save lives. Prove himself.

“Oh...” She pursed her lips and looked like she had something to say but didn’t, abruptly pulling her phone out to check it instead. “I’d better go or I’ll be late. Text me later Chassu.” But she didn’t even look at him as she pushed off to walk away, free hand curled into a tight fist.

“Yeah...” He answered absently, not quite grasping what just happened. “What— Yeah... okay Maki...”

He hadn’t even had a chance to tell her about his big news, and he wouldn’t get a chance to either. Time flew with all the graduation preparations. Rugby team parties, fighting with his dad about attending said parties, behaving like a good boy for his grandparents and estranged uncle who came for the ceremony. It was all a great big blur. Until he found himself graduated well and truly.

And so far Zeke hadn’t shown up at Chuck’s place or tried or corner him at all. Any time they’d crossed paths Chuck blanked him so hard the guy didn’t even stand a chance. Sure, he was nervous Zeke would go looking for some kind of revenge but... They were graduated now. What was the point?

Chuck had texted Raleigh the day after they’d reconnected just to say he’d had a good time, but they were both busy as hell and exhausted so his next text was simply a selfie in his graduation cap and gown over his school’s para-military dress blues, a graduation uniform reserved for those continuing immediately on to the Defense Academy. A parting gift or sorts, one he had to pay for, but one he’d wear on his first day of University. Brightly colored cords hung over his shoulders to signify achievements in sport and academics and behind him stood the unmistakable silhouette of the opera house where the ceremony was being held. He smiled wide in the picture before sending a second picture soon after with Max in his arms wearing his cap.

This time it felt good to share his achievement with Raleigh. It felt valid. Real. He liked that Raleigh made him feel that way. It reignited all the _what if_ s _?_ and _maybe this could be something_ s but also made suffering everything else so much easier.

Raleigh was in the locker room after their junior promo game when he checked his phone, the other team mates not paying him much attention. When Raleigh saw Chuck’s photo he let out a low whistle. As silly as those gowns looked, Chuck looked good in them — although maybe Chuck would look good in _anything_ — and Raleigh could see a bit of his dress blues underneath. God, it’s like a uniform added +100 sexy points. And there were several cords over his shoulders; Chuck had excelled in school. It made Raleigh smile. They still didn’t really know that much about each other and this told him a bit more. That he worked hard, and was proud to show it. Then the pic of Max, and Raleigh chuckled. The dog that started it all. He wanted to meet Max, too.

>> You look good.

>> Congratulations babe :)

He wanted to know more, like _what are your plans now_ and _what’s with the uniform_? Raleigh couldn’t quite remember if Chuck had said something about it. He felt a little guilty that he hadn’t really paid attention to much else than Chuck’s body and all the sex. He wanted to get to know Chuck better this time.

Raleigh quickly put away his phone when Aleksis approached him. The Russian was impossible to get away from, sticking to his side like some kind of mother bear to a cub.

“Raleigh! Good game today!” Aleksis sat down on the bench next to him with the force of a small planet.

“Yeah,” Raleigh replied, and he couldn’t suppress a smile. Not because of the game or Aleksis, but because of Chuck, and how things were OK again, and they were going to meet, and how damn cute he looked in his gown, and...

Aleksis was trying to show him something. Raleigh blinked and focused. In front of him was Aleksis’ phone and on it was an image of a strong-jawed blonde woman with too much make-up.

“This is Tascha,” Aleksis said. “She is good woman! Strong. Beautiful.”

“Uh—” Raleigh began.

“She like to cook! And hunt food! Is good for you. Make lots of children!”

Raleigh took a few seconds to process this new situation. “Uh, thank you, but... I’m not...”

Aleksis swiped to the next picture. A brunette showed up. “This is Katarina! Very nice. She like music, painting. Wide hips is good for babies! Big breasts!” Aleksis gestured the curve of Katarina’s breasts with his hands.

Raleigh grimaced. Did he hurt his head during the game or something? Or was this Aleksis’ way of trying to make him feel better?

He was saved by the bell, their coach entering the locker room just as Aleksis was about to show Raleigh another possible date with breasts, which he really wasn’t interested in. At all. Ever. Raleigh breathed a sigh of relief.

He dawdled a little, though, waiting until everyone else had left, even urging Aleksis to go on ahead. Then he took off his shirt and put his armor pads back on. Least he could do was send Chuck a nice selfie back, right? He blasted his phone camera with his full smile as he let his fingers linger on his waistband.

>> a small graduation gift... for now ;)

It was bloody lovely. As if Chuck wasn’t already having a great day, that just put a cherry on top. He wet his lips and fired a quick text before he put his phone away lest any prying eyes catch a glimpse. He would be spending some quality time with that picture later tonight.

<< Lucky me ;) You still want me to bring my rugby socks next week?

It wasn’t until Raleigh got back to his hotel room to change that he saw Chuck’s text.

>> Fuck yes

>> haven’t forgotten that I want to fuck you with those socks on

A convenient conversation to continue at the dinner table surrounded by Chuck’s family, Mako and Stacker. But it was like an addiction and he carefully read the message with his screen brightness all the way down.

<< Do you still have that list?

Raleigh grinned as he recalled the list of creative sexy things to do with Chuck. A silly thing that had actually been pretty useful. He might still have it... at home, in Alaska, somewhere at the bottom of all the junk on his desk. Right...

>> nah but I can make a new one.

>> #1 is kissing you until you can't stand up

Chuck smiled to himself, lighting up, cheeks turning a little pink as he imagined it a kiss so powerful it made him weak in the knees. Mako noticed and raised an eyebrow but said nothing. _Interesting._

<<You're adorable if you think you can sweep me off my feet just like that, sweetheart.

Raleigh glanced at the tiny clock numbers on the screen; he still had about fifteen minutes before he had to go back downstairs for the next activity, a series training exercises with kids. The junior hockey players were adorable and enthusiastic and it was fun to see them inspired by their international team.

Raleigh plopped onto the bed, lying on his stomach, phone in front of him. Sweeping Chuck off his feet? Sounded like a challenge. One he was totally willing to go for.

>> #2 is kissing down your neck and sucking a bruise into your skin that lasts for days

>> grabbing your ass to hold you upright

<< Yeah? You gonna mark me? Is that your claim on me?

It was getting heavy and fast. This time with emotion. It raced through Chuck's blood in a way he wasn't really ready for. Talking about romance and claiming was a damn far cry from their playful sexy banter last year. It felt like they'd skipped a lot of things. Important things. But this wasn't a relationship...was it?  Surely not. This might be the only time they ever met and it wasn't fair to put feelings on it.

But it was hard not to. Raleigh meant a great many things to Chuck. So much so that he was eager to talk to him again. Barely mad at all over their... break? Break up? Whatever. But their weird level of intimacy and pet names made the lines blur. They were strangers in so many ways, and lovers in so many others.

“Chuck,” Herc cleared his throat. Chuck looked up like he'd been caught red-handed.

“Sorry what?”

“Put down yer damn phone n’answer yer nanna.”

Oh this was going to be a long night.

“Sorry Nanna, what was it?”

Nanna Pierce, his mother's mother, tried not to look annoyed and fluffed her perfectly set hair, the style of which hadn't changed since Farrah Fawcett made it popular several decades ago.

“I asked,” she said slowly, accent crisp and posh. “Whether you had plans for the break. A job perhaps? An internship?”

She and her husband were a very different breed from the Hansens. It was always tense but it could sometimes be entertaining to see them try to stand each other. Even in his dress blues as he was now, well-groomed and freshly shaved Herc had never been and would never be good enough for their daughter. They blamed him for her death and they hardly found him fit to raise their grandson who was following in his father's footsteps in every way imaginable.

“Uh, well...” Chuck answered, not quite sure.

“I just think you should be broadening yourself before you go away to shoot innocent people.”

Chuck tensed. Herc tensed. Everyone else at the table tensed.

“Your grandfather could place you an internship easy as that. You could pick up some real business skills.”

“ _Or_ ,” Herc's mother 'don't call me Nanna call me Tess’ interjected with an edge in her voice, accent thick and broad. She was ginger as they came and wore her hair cropped short and wild, decorated with a thin hand painted piece of silk tied like a headband. You couldn’t bribe a judge to say Herc wasn’t her’s. “You could make yer own mind up and have fun before you start your uni. Your very impressive, very important uni.”

“There's nothing impressive about signing up to die,” Nanna Pierce scoffed.

Herc swallowed hard, twisting the onyx signet ring on his finger. “Please don't—” but she didn't hear or didn't care to hear.

Stacker kept his composure only because he knew if he didn't Mako would join in the assault. Scott looked amused and raised an eyebrow at Chuck, who furrowed his—feeling awkward and caught in a crossfire. His grandfathers both wisely kept their traps shut and focused on their beer.

“Oh that is utter bullshit, Cheryl.” Tess snapped and rolled her eyes. “And anyway Chazza’s more’n welcome to come to the farm n’ he knows that.”

Chuck cringed.

“I doubt _Charles_ wants to spend his winter on your _farm.”_

Chuck cringed harder. Why was this happening. It was humiliating and he could barely even open his mouth to defend himself. Why did this _always_ happen?!

He took it back. It was never _ever_ entertaining to watch them try to suffer each other.

“Well maybe I do!” He finally cut in, voice a little shrill for his liking. “I haven't made a decision yet, maybe I wanna go to the farm or maybe I wanna stay in the city and have a bit of fun! Maybe I wanna slut around for a couple months ay, it's not your life! That's my goddamn decision ain't it?!”

“ _Chuck_ ,” came an obligatory, snapped warning from his father; but it meant nothing. He was kind of proud, actually. Cheryl looked horrified.

“Well I never! I am not being spoken to by my ungrateful grandson how dare you—”

Chuck groaned and rubbed his temples.

“—have half a mind to leave! This is outrageous—”

He wished for the ground to open and swallow him whole. His gran was a pain in the ass but they held the same vacant hole in their chests where Angela had been. It kept them together. Plus the wad of cash his grandad had slipped him was a very appreciated graduation gift.

“Nanna Pierce please, I'm sorry,” he groaned. They were in a nice restaurant. People were starting to stare.

“Go if you like, Cheryl,” Tess said. She'd never ever liked the woman. Really, it wasn't Chuck who had to worry about misbehaving at gatherings like this. Their main food hadn't even come yet and they were all already drinking and sharpening their claws. Mako nudged Chuck's foot under the table and gave him a sympathetic look. He made a face and half shrugged, reaching for the pint of beer he'd been gifted for surviving high school.

Raleigh had sent Chuck a reply—

>> I’ll claim every inch of your body if you let me

—but had received nothing back after a while, Chuck no longer showing as currently online. So he took a quick shower, put on some fresh underwear and a casual outfit and headed back downstairs to the team. The rest of the afternoon he had no opportunity to check his phone, and it was only dinner time when he could see if Chuck replied.

And he had. Sneaking a text or two to Raleigh was one of the things that kept Chuck sane during dinner. That and beer. Because the more his family drank the more outrageous they became, grandmothers arguing over anything and everything from brands of tea to the Prime Minister.

Nanna and Grandpa Pierce were okay but Chuck found that he naturally enjoyed the company of his dad’s parents more. They were hard working honest ‘folk of the land’ types and their pros largely outweighed their cons but their visits weren’t without stress and always went down the same way.

Everything was lovely and fine at first until Tess started stirring the pot for fun. If Scott was there she’d stir something between her boys until Herc got embarrassed and upset. Scott by large just found his brother pretentious for staying in the force like he was _better than him,_ so there was always something to get a rise between them. As a rule Scott and Herc were rarely _ever_ in the same room and no, Herc didn’t want to talk about it.

Chuck’s grandad Don would eventually get the boys to simmer down, and by then Tess would have finished a bottle of wine by herself. She’d ask the same series of questions she always asked, how was Herc’s job. Was he seeing anyone. Was he still friends with that nice black man. Herc would immediately get defensive, Tess would immediately call him a drama queen, and Herc would huff outside for air and a cigarette he didn’t think Chuck knew he smoked.

If Stacker was present, like he was tonight, it was a time bomb until either Tess or Don (likely Tess) said something casually racist and ruined it. Then the Pierce’s would try to prove how _not_ racist and middle class they were by saying something equally as racist and it would all kick off.

And when it finally did happen, and everyone knew it would, Herc turned scarlet and launched into a scathing lecture. Stacker, to his credit, took it all armed with the knowledge that Herc’s parents might explode if they knew just what _exactly_ he did with their baby boy. Chuck excused himself almost immediately to go outside and Mako followed.

“Can’t take them fucking anywhere,” he murmured and shook his head. “I’m sorry Mako, they’re so...”

“Racist?” She answered.

“Yup.” A sigh. It was humiliating. “This was an awful idea.”

“Family can be awful.” Mako nodded, uncomfortable. She had a whole library of things to say to racists but it was difficult in a situation like this. At school it was easy to deal with. Everyone knew Mako Mori had a mean right hook and if you called her the wrong thing then you’d deserve every thrashing she gave you. But family... Chuck’s family... it made standing up for herself or Sensei almost crippling. She hated the feeling. She knew Stacker felt the same, more or less. Chuck was good, though. Chuck and Herc. She knew Herc was fighting their corner even as she and Chuck spoke, which was comforting and also humiliating. They were supposed to be having a nice night.

“Hey... so,” Chuck changed the topic. “You remember that guy I was talking to? In the States?”

“Mm...” It worked. A little. “The dickhead?”

Chuck snorted and nodded. “Yeah, him.”

“...yes?”

“Well... so we started talking a little bit,” Chuck went on.

Mako raised an eyebrow. “Is that who you’ve been texting?”

Chuck nodded. “I guess we’re okay again. He um... He’s coming to town next week. I’m gonna see him.”

“Chassu!” Mako exclaimed and lightly punched his arm. Chuck gave a soft grunt and looked at Mako like what the hell?

“ _This_ is why you don’t care about Zeke. You are talking to your internet crush again!”

Busted. Chuck shrugged and tried to play it cool. “Yeah, so what. I’m allowed to go on a date. And don’t say internet like that, you say it like it’s weird.”

Mako frowned. “I am happy for you. I think. But he was cruel to you, why would you go through that again?”

“It’s not like that. We just...” Chuck flailed his hand in a vague gesture. Ah, fuck it. “I dunno. But he’s coming and this might be my only chance to actually meet him so... I’ve gotta do it.”

“Of course you do... But do you want back up?”

“No,” Immediately. “You just wanna watch, you freak.”

“If that is an invitation...” Mako smiled but the look in her eye betrayed a fury. If this guy hurt her friend she would find him. And trap him. And Liam Neeson him.

Chuck snorted but opened his phone and showed her the picture, enjoying the scarlet flush that crept over Mako’s cheeks, hand over her mouth. She muttered something Chuck barely caught and laughed again, pocketing his phone.

Chuck grinned. “I _know._ ”

By the time Chuck got home that night he was absolutely exhausted. A little drunk. A lot embarrassed by his family. Tess and Don were staying the night before driving back out to their farm in the bush and the Hansen boys dutifully put them to sleep before going their separate ways. Herc and Scott shared a rare moment together out back with a spliff and Chuck climbed into bed none the wiser. All he wanted was sleep, and Raleigh. Who should be in Melbourne or somewhere close by now. He couldn’t believe it and reread their last few messages.

Raleigh would claim him.

Even if it was just sexy talk it still gave him the warm and fuzzies.

<< Only if you say pretty please

A coy answer.

<< Sorry for the silence, at a grad dinner and my family is insane.

He wasn’t sure how much about his real life Raleigh actually cared to know but it was an explanation all the same.

<< Their favourite thing is getting wasted and ripping each other to pieces, lovely night for everyone involved. But it’s over now and that’s what matters.

Raleigh was in the middle of packing his bags for the nightly flight to Melbourne when Chuck's next text came in.

>> Family huh

>> sucks that they're giving you trouble.

Raleigh paused. Chuck was telling him more about himself so Raleigh should open up a little too, right? But his family story wasn't exactly the stuff of light conversation.

>> it's just me and my brother Yancy in Anchorage

He bit his lip and pressed send before he could have second thoughts. But Chuck answered quickly this time. They were both online at the same time. This was his favorite.

<< I’m an only child. I always thought it would be nice to have a brother.

“Yancy,” Chuck mused aloud. “Yancy and Raleigh. Who the hell named you.”

<< Great names your fam goes for ;P x

Raleigh chuckled. Yancy and him got shit for their girly names in primary school and junior high—Sally Raleigh and Yancy Pansy, he recalled—but beating the crap out of bullies ended that after a while. Eventually word got around that you didn't mess with the Becket brothers.

>> our mom settled on the names for daughters and they just kinda stuck. :D

>> maybe that's why we both like dudes?

Chuck laughed aloud to himself but couldn’t help but be a touch envious. He reckoned if he had a gay brother then crossing that bridge with their dad would be a hell of a lot easier when they got there. Safety in numbers and all.

<< Is that why you went into hockey? You’ve got a girl’s name but you’re ripped af so it evens out?

That gave Raleigh some pause. He went into hockey because his dad fucking _left them_ and he'd just shut down. He didn't even remember much about that time. But at some point he'd found himself on the ice. Uncle Vic used to play hockey, not even professionally, just college level. But he'd figured the sport would be good for his depressed nephew. Well, they weren't actually related, he'd been a close friend of the family along with his brother Gunnar. When mom died when Yancy wasn't old enough to be their guardian yet, Uncle Vic had taken that role upon himself for two years. He wasn't quite a father figure, but the closest thing to it Yance and Raleigh had.

Raleigh sighed. This wasn't the most pleasant walk down memory lane. He pulled a hand through his hair. He didn't feel like telling Chuck all that. Not yet, anyway. If Chuck found out how messed up his family history was he might not want to meet Raleigh at all anymore.

>> something like that.

Raleigh tried to steer the conversation to a lighter note.

>> I am pretty ripped. ;)

Fair enough, Chuck reasoned.

<< If it makes you feel any better my dad’s name is Hercules.

Not a girl’s name but a stupid one nonetheless.

<< My family has a weird mythos naming tradition idk.

Hercules? Raleigh wasn't sure whether that was funny or terrifying. He hadn't really thought about it before, but what if he ever met Chuck's dad? _Hi, I'm the guy who had cam sex with your underage son._ To a guy named Hercules. Raleigh was getting a little worried. Wasn't Chuck's dad military, too?

Shit, he was a dead man walking.

Raleigh swallowed hard. He'd cross that bridge when he got to it. It might be not so much crossing as running for his life, but okay.

>> so which god is called Chuck exactly? lol

<< The god of cam sex

<< Sorry babe but if I told you my middle name I’d probably have to kill you.

<< Rough break  

At that, Raleigh definitely laughed out loud. This was weird. Good weird. Chuck was funny and smart, and attractive. Raleigh mostly figured he, himself, was only the latter. He still wasn't sure how Chuck continued to be hung up on him when he'd been such a massive dick.

Maybe it _was_ his massive dick?

Raleigh shook his head with another laugh.

>> You are divine on camera

>> wanna show me?

<< What, show you my middle name? God that’s got me so fucking hot.

Chuck grinned to himself. Ah, why not.

<< Yeah go on then, blondie. Come online.

>> Smartass.

That night Raleigh only had a few hours of sleep, but it was worth it, because goddamn jacking off together online was hot. He nearly passed out right after the intense orgasm and had to hurry packing the rest of his stuff to make it to the team’s travel bus in time.

The flight to Melbourne was 9.5 hours non-stop. What was worse, there was no wi-fi on board. He’d have to amuse himself, and Raleigh mostly did this asleep, where he had some kind of weird dream that Chuck was on the flight and they’d tried to sneak off to score a membership to the Mile High Club.

When he woke up with an hour to go, Aleksis was sitting next to him. Looking very serious.

“Uh, hi,” Raleigh muttered, rubbing his eyes. “What’s up?”

Aleksis leaned in a bit closer. Which was impressive, because the economy seats were far too small for a man his size, and he was the only one they ever bumped up to business class because he just didn’t _fit_ otherwise.

“Who is Chuck,” Aleksis boomed.

Raleigh paled. _Uh-oh_.

“Erm,” Raleigh mumbled. “Uh, my pet... fish... Back home? I really miss the little dude.”

Aleksis didn't believe him for a second.

It took Raleigh a few seconds to understand why, and then he turned several shades of beet red and scrambled to cover up his boner. God _dammit._

“Unless you like sex with fish, Chuck not fish,” Aleksis remarked.

Raleigh was too mortified to speak, so Aleksis waited and then continued.

“Chuck is name of man, yes?”

Raleigh wondered if every Russian was as blunt and tactless as Aleksis. Raleigh was also pretty bad at lying.

“... Yeah,” Raleigh mumbled, barely audible. He hoped nobody was catching on to the topic of their conversation. Aleksis to his credit had actually lowered the volume of his voice.

Aleksis’ face shone and he burst into laughter.

Raleigh awkwardly grimaced. At least Aleksis wasn't angry with him?

“I send you woman... Hahaha!” Aleksis’ hands smacked his thighs with enough force to rattle his chair  which was already dealing with too much Russian.

Aleksis wiped the tears out of the corners of his eyes and pulled Raleigh in for some approximation of a noogie.

“I go back now,” Aleksis said, and he got up, still grinning like a madman. “Maybe if Chuck go bad, I send you picture of Sergei, yes?”

Raleigh groaned, but was actually a little happy with how Aleksis had responded. He was starting to feel like maybe he'd made a real friend. Between this and Chuck and his career, things were really looking up.

His schedule in Melbourne was crazy, and even though he was now almost in the same time zone as Chuck, Raleigh could only get a few texts in. By the time he'd arrived at the hotel he was so beat it was all he could do not to pass out with his clothes on.

The week flew by, and it was his last evening in Melbourne when Raleigh finally had the time and energy to get in touch. Never mind that he was one day away from arriving in Sydney. When Raleigh thought about what that meant too much his stomach felt funny. But despite feeling a bit anxious, he still wanted to talk to Chuck.

>> Hey. Still awake?

Chuck was and the answer came almost immediately, already up as he watched _yet another_ vlog about good gay sex.

<< Hey, yeah I’m here.

>> Wanna call?

Chuck smiled to himself and closed the YouTube tab. He didn’t bother to give Raleigh an affirmative before pressing the call button and purring a low “Mmm, hello gorgeous,” when it was answered.  

“Hey babe,” Raleigh said, not missing the tone of Chuck’s voice, which sent a shiver through him. He licked his lips. He was feeling oddly self-conscious and shifted on the bed.

“So uh. I'm flying into Sydney tomorrow, the 25th.”

“Yeah?” Like Chuck wasn’t acutely aware Raleigh was due in tomorrow. Like he hadn’t spent the last week preparing himself mentally and physically. Hours of thinking. Hours of researching. Exploring his own body, practicing technique... but nothing would beat experience and that... he still didn’t have any when it came to anal sex with men.

And as much as Raleigh figured he'd want to drag Chuck right to bed (or wall, floor, bathroom), he'd given this some thought, too. Chuck was younger, Raleigh kind of suspected he didn't have a lot of experience besides the stuff they had done on webcam. He wanted to be a somewhat decent guy. He'd dated people before. Hell, even one night stands had some etiquette. You met for drinks, checked each other out, and if it was match you hooked up. No staying over or at least leave before the other party woke up. No complications.

But Chuck provided plenty of complications.

“We're arriving in the morning but there's stuff scheduled all day and in the evening,” Raleigh started. “And the promotional game is on the 26th with more marketing things and junior training around it...”

He wasn't sure what he was trying to say. Like maybe he wanted to see Chuck as soon as possible but he didn't want to pressure him. And Raleigh didn't want to disappoint him. He didn't want to be tired from traveling and a busy day when meeting Chuck. But he also didn't want to totally fail on the 27th from all the pressure or string Chuck along when they were already in the same city.

Raleigh scratched his head. He was driving himself nuts. Really, what did he want to do? More than anything else?

“I, uh, thought that maybe we could meet tomorrow? Like, just drinks at the hotel bar or something,” Raleigh finally said. “It could get pretty late though.”

Close to midnight on a weekday. He almost added that, but didn't want to remind Chuck of the age gap between them or any parents that might be interested in punching Raleigh in the face for doing indecent things with their son.

“That doesn’t matter,” Chuck answered, quick on the draw. The suggestion was a pleasant surprise and now that he thought about it... easing into their meeting did take some of the pressure off. He had a lot riding on the 27th. What if he was nervous and couldn’t perform? What if Raleigh didn’t like him once they met? What if there wasn’t a spark at all? What if there _was_ a spark? What then?!

Chuck swallowed. His questions and fears were valid, but there was only one way to settle them.

“I’ll meet you. Where, um. Where are you staying?”

Raleigh smiled, relieved that Chuck went along with his suggestion.

“The Westin hotel,” Raleigh answered.

“The Westin... downtown? Lemme just...” A note of pause while Chuck pulled his phone back enough to google the place and still be able to hear Raleigh speak. He gave a low whistle. “Oh... Damn... yeah I know this place.”

It was fancy as hell is what Chuck knew about it. The kind of grand old building he appreciated when he passed but never studied because he never had any reason to. It wasn’t like he could afford to stay there. He guessed Raleigh was used to being touted around the nicest hotels in the world. A little curl of excitement bubbled in his belly. He was gonna get a drink. With Raleigh. At The Westin. How was this even real life?

“S-so uuh.” Chuck put the pictures away and the receiver back to his ear. “Should I just turn up at like ten or do you wanna text me or what? I live on the Airbase so I’ll have to drive in... it isn’t far,  I just need time.”

It was over an hour but he knew in his gut if he said so then Raleigh would back out. He would need to find an alibi as well. A reason to stay overnight in Sydney. Or at least be out very very late... Half of him thought maybe Herc wouldn’t notice but—yeah, nah. Herc would absolutely notice.

“Did... did I tell you I was Air Force?”

No, he hadn’t, Raleigh thought. But it explained the bit of uniform he’d saw. And that could only mean one thing... that Chuck’s father was Air Force. How else would a teen end up living on a base? So not only was Chuck’s old man called _Hercules_ , he was also military. This did not bode well for Raleigh’s future health.

“Ah, no, you didn’t,” Raleigh replied. He didn’t want to inform Chuck of his mounting apprehension; that just wasn’t cool or sexy. “...bet you look really hot in a uniform.”

Raleigh coughed. “And yeah, around ten sounds good, just head to the hotel bar? I’ll meet you there.”

There was a tight feeling in his chest. They were actually going to do this, holy shit.

“Sure... okay.” It felt a little weird, Chuck thought. Tense. Maybe Raleigh was as anxious as he was.

“N’ for the record? I look sexy as hell in a uniform.” But he was sure as hell not gonna wear it. That uniform in particular would immediately identify him as a student. Chuck wondered if it was normal to be this nervous. But after everything they'd done together they had to at least have _some_ chemistry... right?

“Sooo I was thinking...” Chuck continued. “If um. I dunno, if we get there and you don't like me or...” What are you trying to say, get it out. “Shall we just agree no hard feelings now?” He was scared. He was trying to be prepared but he was scared as hell and it showed in his nerves and his willingness to give Raleigh an easy out. He tried to present it nonchalantly but he was invested in this and it was betraying him. Maybe he was too young. Maybe he was just wet behind the ears. He'd never know unless he went for it but showing the vulnerability now was both unintentional and terrifying.

Chuck’s nervousness actually made Raleigh feel a little better. That’s right, he wasn’t the only one feeling anxious about this. It was weird for both of them. Sure, he’d had online hookups before through Tinder or Grindr, but this was different. They’d been talking for a year already, and then not talking, and talking again, and there was just something there that they couldn’t let go of. But what if it was all just imaginary and wishful thinking?

Raleigh scratched his jaw, a little stubble forming after the day. “Yeah,” he answered after a while. “No hard feelings.” Then a smile. “Or when I do like you, _very hard_ feelings.”

In the beat it took Raleigh to answer Chuck held his breath, giving a soft exhale that turned into a laugh. “I bloody hope so!” The smile in his voice was audible. Raleigh could almost hear Chuck's dimples presenting themselves. “And you should be so lucky,” Chuck reminded him. “I don't go around meeting just anyone in hotel bars.”

“Very lucky,” Raleigh agreed. “And, uh, same for you,” he added. “Like, no pressure.”

Raleigh bit his lip. He was kind of horny and wanted to cam with Chuck, but he also didn’t want to make things even more awkward tomorrow. Ugh, things were _already_ awkward, really. “So, uh... how was your day?” Raleigh ventured.

“Umm...” Chuck considered. “Yeah, good. To be totally honest...” Careful now, don't be honest to the point of being pathetic. “Had you on my mind most of it.”

That sounded better to him then _I've been masturbating with my hand in my ass all day because I'm terrified of fucking up in bed with you._ He could maybe admit some of it but his lack of experience and lack of _real_ toys made any particular details embarrassing, makeshift and amateurish.

“Is it really bad you're like trying to have a real conversation with me but your voice’s got me totally turned on?” Like some kind of Pavlovian response... Christ.

Raleigh chuckled. “Yeah?” He shifted on the bed and licked his lips. “So what are you gonna do about that?”

“Weeellll... I _could_ go take a cold shower... but, I was thinking maybe I could show you that thing I bought finally? It's still in its box. I haven't...” had the nerve. Had the reason. Had _you._

Raleigh perked up by several hundred points, or whatever the unit  of measurement for perkiness was. A thing Chuck bought? A sex toy? Forget awkwardness, he was _really interested_ in that _right now_. The heat was audible in his voice, dropping an octave in tone. “What _thing_ is that, babe?”

It made Chuck shiver and close his eyes, a rush of excitement tingling through his lower half. Raleigh didn't remember and Chuck tried not to be disappointed, seeing this instead as an opportunity.

“Well, it's silicone... and, you've got one.” he reminded playfully. “I think it's gonna make me scream and I want your voice in my ear the whole time.”

Silicone and something Raleigh had? That didn’t really narrow the selection. Raleigh had a _lot_ of stuff. Which was all back in Alaska, sadly. He’d mostly been getting by on jacking off and missed his toys. He wasn’t going to risk bringing a _dildo_ on this trip, though. Jesus fuck no. Either way, he was totally up for whatever Chuck was proposing.

“Fuck yes,” Raleigh purred. He palmed himself, getting excited by the mere thought of hearing Chuck go wild. _Seeing_ would be even better, though. “I wanna talk you through it, hear your sweet voice cry out.” He paused. “Think you can manage showing me, too? I really want to see what this toy looks like going inside you.”

Something about what Chuck had said made Raleigh suspect it wasn’t a stroker.

“Yeah... I wanna show you. Do you have your laptop with you or phone only?” Chuck asked as he got up to rummage through his closet. He wasn't giving himself a lot of prep time but who was he kidding, he'd been prepping all damn day. He turned the sleek, black, unmarked box in his hands as he held the phone with his shoulder. He'd been too intimidated until now to even consider using the damn thing. But now that he had Raleigh's interest and his body was about as ready as it'd ever be... why not?

“Phone only,” Raleigh replied. “I have headphones though.” He put the phone down for a minute to grab them off his nightstand. Headphones were one of the few things keeping him sane during flights. He’d never realized how _loud_ planes were from the inside. Headphones on, he held the phone in front of his face and pressed the video call button.

“Fair enough,” Chuck said and answered the request to add video, smiling and raking a hand through his hair.

“Bear with love, I'm not ready yet.” He kept the call live but quietly crept out into the hall to snag a new towel from the bathroom, listening for a moment to hear Herc but the TV was on and playing... some kind of sport. He reckoned he was safe and went back, closing and locking the door behind him before fishing for his own headphones.

“How am I supposed to do this on a phone...” he murmured, looking around. Aha. He went over to his desk and rustled through a drawer, flipping the video to back camera so Raleigh could follow. When he found what he was looking for in what seemed to be a drawer full of metal bits, soldering irons and computer chips, Chuck held up the long tool. It had a strong clamp on one end and a phone sized clamp on the other, connected by a sturdy, posable cable. “Gotcha.”

He flipped back to front facing and set to constructing his scene, clamping the phone holder to the frame of the end of his bed and bending the cable so that it would hold his phone nice and sturdy just above blanket level. Best seat in the house. He slipped his phone in and adjusted it.

“How's that?”

Hands free, he put the towel down and sat back a foot or so, already naked. He’d been naked all day. A bottle of lube clearly visible on his bedside table, a small black box to the side of his right knee. He put in his wireless earbuds, a brand new pair of Jaybirds he'd bought with the cash from his grandad.

“Holy shit,” Raleigh mumbled. This view was... he remembered this view from last year. Chuck hadn’t even started yet and he was already so turned on. He bit his lip, pupils dilated, gaze almost hungry. Not that Chuck could tell seeing as he was sitting a few feet away. “I can’t wait,” he husked. “Show me, baby.”

“I can put it on back camera if the resolution goes shit, just tell me,” The other answered before picking up the sleek box and sliding it open. Chuck bit his lips before wetting them and picked up the toy, coming a little closer so Raleigh could see. It wasn't a _cheap_ prostate massager, either. It was the real deal, best he could find and it looked almost exactly like the one Raleigh had used. With his earphones in there was an extra layer of vulnerability but at the same time it felt more...safe? Exciting?

“What’d you reckon?”

Raleigh burst into a wide grin. “That one looks familiar,” he said. “Can’t wait to see what it does to you.” His eyes glinted up at the camera so Chuck would catch his gaze.

It was the sort of look Chuck imagined Raleigh would give him right before he gave a blowjob. He hoped to confirm that in the next few days. He smiled and bit his lower lip again in a move he felt was seductive, reaching back for the bottle of lube he’d been steadily emptying that week.

Chuck turned, ass to the camera, watching over his shoulder to make sure he was in frame and shifted until he was. He wanted Raleigh to see him slick himself. His freckled ass and hips, the little pink hole he’d gone through the enormous personal effort to tidy to porn star standards. He wanted Raleigh to watch as he poured the clear gel and massaged it over his skin, knees spread wide and stable, cock twitching back to attention between his legs. He wanted Raleigh to see the careful movements as he tucked the tip of his right pointer finger in, then further, then another, and wanted him to hear the little moan he stifled behind locked teeth. He’d done this part all day and had been very productive.  

Slowly, rolling his hips in time, Chuck fingered himself for the personal pleasure of Raleigh Becket.

The device itself was black, velvet touch silicone with six inches of insertable, curved, dildo-esque length and girth with a crescent shaped stopper-come-handle at the end that curved and sloped to stimulate his perineum externally in a sort of sexy two part double team. At the end of the handle was a little silver button which controlled the internal vibrator. He didn’t dare tell Raleigh about the household objects he’d been using in the wake of not having a dildo, but now that Chuck looked at the toy he realised he should have been playing with this all along.

When Chuck felt like he’d played with himself enough he drew his fingers back to drizzle himself and the toy with far more lube than he rightly needed and positioned it, glancing over his shoulder at his phone.

“I’m gonna pretend this is you,” he murmured, hoping the little microphone on his earbuds would pick it up, breathy as he nudged the head in, willing himself to keep his hips and ass high and presented. After everything else he’d stuffed in his ass that week in the name of sexual education, it wasn’t nearly as foreign as he thought it might be. And having fingered himself for Raleigh before, the sensation of being watched wasn’t scary but exhilarating. Compared to the last time it got _this_ hot and heavy between them he’d advanced his knowledge by leaps and bounds.

“C’mon love, talk to me.”

“Fuck,” Raleigh hissed. All the blood was rushing to his cock in record speed and he wasted no time yanking his slacks and boxers down, sighing when he wrapped his hand around his hard-on. “You are so unbelievably sexy. Showing me all this, your gorgeous tight ass up in the air... the way that toy slides in... how does it feel? Do you like it?” He was already babbling. “Yeah, pretend that’s me, filling you up...” Just the sight of the vibrator slipping inside of Chuck’s beautiful pink asshole made him dizzy with want. He was going to have real difficulty not dragging him straight back to his hotel room tomorrow, _fuck_.

Not that Chuck would really object if they rubbed each other the right way.

Har de har.

Listening to Raleigh purr in his ears made it all worthwhile and Chuck slowly sunk the silicone in. It was softer than the things he’d been playing with and naturally curved with his body, which felt so much better. It curved towards his his belly button and he could already feel the tingling in his skin bloom into something _so much more._

“You gonna f-fuck me like this?” He gasped, pushing until he felt the end nestle between his balls exactly where it should and drew his hand away. It felt nice. It felt so nice. Clenching once or twice he recalled the instructions and memories of watching Raleigh. He didn’t need to move the toy with his hand, he could do it all on his own internally, and the girth of the thing made it a lot easier to hit his target which he did on the second clench and release, giving a guttural cry of surprise and grabbing immediately for his pillow to muffle the noises he realised he was absolutely going to make.

Raleigh’s cock twitched in his hand at Chuck’s cry. Jesus, at this rate he was going to come before Chuck did. “Yeah baby,” he encouraged Chuck. “Just like that, slow, deep, so you can feel every inch of me.”

Chuck breathed out low and long, centering himself, focusing on the sound of Raleigh’s voice.

“Every inch, baby,” he echoed. “I’ll come off your cock alone.”

And with _that kind_ of hardware inside him it was entirely possible, rolling and clenching and letting his own muscles guide the toy.

“‘m gonna turn it on,” Chuck murmured and reached behind himself to press the button. Just once. And the button brought the thing to life; it began to buzz and hum deep inside and brought a whole other level to the experience, slamming into him like a punch on the nose. Chuck’s posture immediately changed, knees sliding wider, hips rolling faster as he gave up on the lack of friction against his cock and rutted against the towel he was on, fingers scrambling for purchase in his sheets as he cried out into his pillow—frantic and hungry and _needy_. “Fu—fuhh—” Words were forgotten and he stammered, control over his body given over to the device completely as it circled and nudged against his prostate, purring away happily.

“Fuh _—fuck. Fuck, Fuck!”_

Raleigh groaned in response. It was almost like he could feel the toy himself and watching Chuck lose himself to the sensations that were new to him was intoxicating. He tightened his hand around the base of his cock, not wanting to give in to his own pleasure when he was so taken with Chuck’s experience of his, he didn’t want to miss a second of it. “Baby, you’re so good,” Raleigh murmured. “Look at you, so goddamn beautiful, being fucked like this. Just for me alone.”

Just for him alone. Just him. Only him. It made Chuck whimper which tailed into a low groan. This was way more than he was expecting and he wouldn't last long under the assault. He was lost. Absolutely lost. Swimming in bliss and Raleigh’s voice was like graveled velvet as he led him through.

“I—” Chuck gasped. Words. He couldn't. “Fuck, Raleigh—” He was gonna come already. He wasn’t prepared for this next level shit. Muscles tight, thighs trembling, mind absolutely gone as hot release blushed across him, cock spitting sticky ribbons between his knees—all over the towel and up across his tight, braced abs.

_Just for me alone._

Wave after wave hit him when the toy didn't stop and struck him from the inside more insistently as he clenched through his orgasm, forgetting the mechanics of how it worked and then suddenly it was too much and Chuck pawed frantically to get it out. The massager hit the bed leaving Chuck's perfect, twitching, lube drooling gape on full display.

Raleigh couldn't hold out much longer. Chuck _was_ the god of cam sex. No porn he’d ever seen compared to this. The need to come was incredibly urgent and he started brutally stripping his cock, babbling nonsense about Chuck being sexy and hot with his amazing, opened, wet little ass and whatever filth he could think of. Finally the pressure built up in his balls, heavy and insistent, and Raleigh’s body, tensed as a bow, gasped for air until his pleasure hit its peak and he came with a long, deep groan, hot seed spilling over his hand and abdomen.

He basked in it for a while before he was able to articulate words.

“Shit, that was so fucking good,” Raleigh sighed, feeling content, stretching out across the bed like a cat. He reached for the towel he'd dropped next to the bed after his shower and wiped the mess off his hand and belly.

He held the phone back up to his face, where Chuck's ass just started to move to sit up, and Raleigh bemoaned the loss of this great view.

“Mmf,” Chuck grunted in spent response. “That... fuuh. Yeah it was.”

He moved slowly as he came back to the world, groping for the towel beneath him and sliding off his bed to quickly clean his belly and thighs and ass before reappearing. Crawling back on to face his companion and lay on his side, Chuck smiled, blinking slowly like a cat. Sated. Sleepy. Warm.

“Mm, dunno why I waited so long.” But that was a lie. He knew exactly why he'd waited and it had everything to do with the man on the other end of the phone. The man he'd be face to face with tomorrow night. And that made him feel all kinds of ways.

Raleigh didn’t exactly want to be reminded of how he’d messed up, so he opted not to reply to that statement. He licked his lips and glanced up at the camera again. “You won’t have to wait much longer for the real thing.”

It’s just as well Raleigh didn’t comment. That wasn’t how Chuck had meant it. He wanted to say he could barely wait as it was but that felt...young. Eager. Needy. He didn’t want to come across that way. Instead he stretched out a little, laid on his belly and propped his face up in his hand, ass moving slowly from side to side. He felt sexy as hell. If the military didn’t pan out he might think about this camming stuff more seriously. Wouldn’t that be a way to make daddy proud of him.

“Ten pm,” he answered. “At the Westin bar. I’ll be there.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chuck and Raleigh finally meet each other in real life and things get steamy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Worth the wait, right? ;) -- Delta
> 
> U r welcum --OOD

Chuck couldn’t sleep.

  


As tired as he was from the fun he’d had on the phone with Raleigh, his mind was spinning at a million miles an hour. He needed an alibi to get into town for one or two nights and, still in trouble with his dad for Caitlin's party, that wasn’t going to be an easy feat.

  


Despite their constant clashing, the Hansens operated on a policy of truth and loyalty. There was extended family, sure, but they ran on a twisted thread of _You and Me Against the World._ Sometimes that was successful. Sometimes not so much. But they had each other and no matter how much they fought or what about, they would eventually recenter... If only to care for Max.

  


It meant that no matter how angry Chuck was with his father for what happened with his mum he still respected him. He didn’t want to lie to him. But as he got older Chuck saw that sometimes these things were necessary to get what he wanted. And right now he wanted to go on a date. In the city. Very late at night with an older man.

  


Herc couldn’t know. No fucking way could Herc know.

  


So come morning Chuck pulled himself together, hid his sins from the night before and started plotting. Sydney always had a million things going on at any given time and Chuck poured through the countless activity notices online. Concerts, sports events, community projects... But he needed something that would keep him there and it was proving difficult.

  


2pm, frustrated and stir crazy he tossed himself onto his back and grumbled at the walls for being so unhelpful.

  


By 3pm he was starting to panic.

  


By 4pm he had managed to cobble together something resembling a reason to be in the city and by 5pm he’d streamlined it into the most beautiful series of waterfall lies you’d ever seen.

  


It all started with a dog show. They occasionally talked about how good an example of his breed Max was so why not? Chuck just wanted to check it out and then go on to an evening job-fair and socializing event. He could look for a job, right? Nothing suspicious at all. That might go on quite late so then he’d get some dinner and then catch the-wait for it- midnight release of the newest superhero film. That was going to go pretty late so he’d crash with a ‘friend’ and the next day he’d attend the second half of the job-fair which was probably going to go all day what with all its seminars. It was free to register and he did. His lie was complete. Better yet it was bulletproof. It was a beauty if he’d ever seen one.

  


Herc got home at half past five which seemed a strange time but Chuck didn’t complain. He hopped up from his bed, grabbed the registration from his printer and trotted downstairs to spin his web over his father who looked tired as he rummaged around for something in his home office.

  


“So dad,” he started.

  


Herc didn’t even give him a chance.

  


“I’m only back for a minute. Things’r kickin’ off and I need to get back.”

  


It took the wind from Chuck’s sails. “Shit... everything okay?”

  


“I reckon so, but it ain’t makin’ my life any easier.”

  


“Do I need to get in a bomb shelter or something?”

  


Herc snorted and shook his head. “It’s fine.” He found the papers and a USB stick he’d been looking for and stuffed them into his worn briefcase.

  


“You’ll have to sort yerself supper. This might be an all-nighter for me, yeah.”

  


Chuck opened his mouth to say something before shutting it with a click and nodding.

  


“What’s that?” Chuck had forgotten he was even holding anything when his father asked and he looked at the papers in his hand.

  


“O-oh... um. Job-fair thing. I was—”

  


“—sounds good. Put Max out back if yer off, yeah?”

  


Chuck nodded again and Herc was out the door. His beautiful, brilliant lie would go untold. Herc was going to be gone for at least a day… maybe days... He waited until the front door closed before breaking out into a relieved laugh. Max stared at him from across the room and Chuck crossed to come pet him.

  


“Ay boy, if that wasn’t a sign, I don’t know what is.”

  


It was an enormous, blinking neon one. Like someone wanted him to go on this date. He was _meant_ to. If he believed in that kind of thing he would consider, just for a moment, maybe it was his mother.

  


It was lucky either way and Chuck raced with glee to get ready. He walked Max, showered, prepared his body… just, you know, in case. He shaved and ate, taking considerable time and care in every part of his multistep execution of Operation Get Some. He agonized over what to wear before finally settling on his nicest pair of jeans and a thin black tee with a low V neck. Black motorcycle boots he bought because they made him feel like a badass and his trusty vintage leather jacket. He needed all the confidence he could get.

  


<< Need a favour Maki

He’d left this part of his plan to just before 8pm.

  


<< I’m on a date tonight and Dad’s working an all nighter. Will you bring Max in later and then back out tomorrow morning if I’m not back?

  


>> You’re staying overnight?!

  


<< Maybe. If this goes late I don’t want to be driving back at ass crack just to turn around and drive back tomorrow.

  


>> Chassu this is serious, you don’t know him

  


<< Please. I’ll be safe, don’t worry.

<< please?!

  


Waiting for her answer was agony.

  


>> You owe me.

  


<< THANK YOU!!

  


He owed her big time.

  


Last checks and a quick stop off at the general store on base for condoms and a few packets of lube (for good luck, just in case you see) and he was off to Sydney.

  


Chuck tried not to be nervous as he drove. He tried to not think about it too much and instead told himself that he was just going to meet an old friend. Someone he hadn’t seen in a long… long time. It helped a little but as he parked and wandered into the hotel lobby the nerves were back in an instant.

  


The Westin Sydney was a beautiful old building. It’s lobby was an enormous glass atrium with statues and art all over. Chairs and tables were scattered throughout with vases of very expensive flowers refreshed every week by one of the top florists in the city. The bar was just through the other side of the lobby and was much cozier. The Westin boasted an enormous, antique clock tower and borrowed its decor imagery from that but unlike the lobby itself, the bar was darker and intimate with a sort of modern 60’s theme. It was very swanky and very posh and Chuck had never been in a place like it. He looked at the roaring fireplace for a minute before scanning the area for Raleigh.

  


“Can I help?”

  


“Ay? Sorry—” He shook his head to the hostess—pretty, young, dark hair and dark skin and striking grey eyes—and willed her not to card him. She didn’t for a moment think about his age. He was on miracle number 2 today.

  


“I’m just looking for someone. I must be early.”

  


“No worries, mate. Take a seat where you like n’I’ll be over in a bit. Can I get you something to start?”

  


“Uh... sure. Pint of Lager. I’ll let you surprise me.”

  


She smiled and he nodded and eased into the place for a spot. The bar wasn’t packed but he wanted a seat where he could see the door — finally settling in an alcove against the opposite wall. This was nerve wracking and Raleigh wasn’t even there yet.

  


Raleigh was pacing back and forth in his hotel room. The clock was creeping closer to ten and he was freaking out. He wasn’t sure why this was such a big deal. He’d been nervous all day, to the point where even his teammates were starting to notice. He could barely get any food into his stomach whilst usually before and after hockey he felt like stuffing his face with anything edible he could find — though he had to cut back on junk food, wanting to actually keep his abs visible and all.

  


He’d showered, shaved, had tried to make up his mind about putting on aftershave or not for like ten minutes until putting on a _little bit_ , had changed into three different casual outfits until he realized that he didn’t really bring that many different outfits, combed his hair into five different styles before going back to the first, and almost called Yancy.

  


What the _fuck_ was going on? He’d been on countless dates before. He’d dated people. Raleigh Becket was good at dating people. He’d appear, all dashing and charming and oozing sex appeal. He knew how to pull a guy.

  


But Chuck Hansen had him acting like a teenage girl.

  


He was trying to remember the kind of nonsense a team captain would say to get them going, some inspirational psyching up motto thing, but even on that his mind blanked.

  


With a minute to ten, Raleigh gave up. He was going to head downstairs and just… see what happened. Maybe he would totally bomb, but at least he couldn’t blame himself for not trying.

  


He could feel his heart pounding in his chest, cheeks flushing, as he approached the hotel bar. _Not cool at all, Rals,_ he thought. _This is so uncool. Where’s my swagger. Shit. How am I going to impress Chuck like this?_

  


He came into the bar from the side, and that’s when he stopped in his tracks.

  


It was him. It was Chuck. Sitting like, right there. Leather jacket, jeans, black boots, reddish hair. It was unmistakable. Raleigh tried to remind himself that barely 24 hours ago Chuck had masturbated for him live on phone cam, calling out Raleigh’s name, and Raleigh had thrown all sorts of filth his way.

  


A crazy rush went up through his body, like a heat wave, his skin prickling. It felt like he was almost  panicking.

  


_Stay cool. Be cool. I am the coolest._

  


He could use his Aces captain’s speech right about now, but Steve was nowhere near Sydney. He would have to wing it on his own.

  


So Raleigh straightened his shoulders, ran a hand through his hair, and started walking towards Chuck.

  


It took a minute to clock him. Chuck had spent most of his time staring down the door but the hostess had brought him a pint and he was using it to calm his nerves. Stop the internal voice suggesting he might just not come. Crisp bubbles in his throat. He was gonna show. Cold glass in his hand. Raleigh was just a little late, that's all. The music in the place was audible but not so loud that it hindered conversation. If things went badly Chuck had already mapped his three best chances of exit but hoped he wouldn’t have to use any of them.

  


He just. He really wanted this to be good.

  


So he waited and hoped, scanning the room again and ah — _there._ Raleigh had materialised. And Chuck was _positive_ it was Raleigh. It hit him in the gut and he swallowed, standing out of instinct on weak knees to greet him. He was so much hotter in person. And taller. Way taller.

  


_Say something Chuck, you're staring._

  


What the hell was he supposed to say.

  


_C’mon you idiot, think! What do you always say to him?! Ah_ — _right._

  


He wet his lips and smiled. Begging himself to not be awkward.

  


“Hello gorgeous.”

  


Some basal instinct kicked in with Raleigh, probably from all those dates he had. Despite nervousness sizzling under the surface, he burst into a wide smile. “Hey, you.”

  


His mind raced. _Holy shit. He looks — so much younger in real life — shorter? But you can see he’s going to bulk up, he has that kind of build — could be a hockey player — it’s rugby though. Wait how old was he again — 18 right? No, 17. Wait, shit? What the fuck am I doing here? Rals, he looks young, way young. I mean. But look at those fucking shoulders—look at those eyes. Those lips. That jaw. Jesus, give him a couple of years and you can cut diamonds on that jaw—_

  


It was maybe a minute of outright staring ‘till Raleigh snapped out of it.

“You look good,” Raleigh said, his eyes glinting. There was no way he could _not_ notice how good Chuck looked.

  


Which was nice but when you spent that long staring at someone it was bound to make them uncomfortable. Which Chuck was beginning to get.

  


“Yeah?” Confirmation finally came and Chuck relaxed off the anxiety that had built up in such a short space. He wasn't quite sure what to do. Did they shake? Did they kiss? He — shit, he wasn't sure if he was ready to kiss blokes in public. Definitely not sober.

  


“You're, um. Not so bad yourself. Taller’n I thought you'd be.” Which was ridiculous because Chuck knew from Raleigh’s player stats that he was 6’1 and it wasn't like Chuck had never seen a bloke over 6 foot before… but it was a hell of a reminder that he hadn't hit his last growth spurt and his broad 5’10 was just another point of insecurity.

  


Raleigh couldn’t really stop himself from smiling. He probably looked like a complete idiot. He licked his lips and stuck out his hand. “Well, it’s good to meet you… finally, Chuck.”

  


“Likewise,” he answered and shook the other's hand — strong and warm and solid. You could tell a lot about a man from his handshake and Raleigh's told a story Chuck liked. They were finally skin and it was _electric_.

  


Chuck had words ready and stacked in his throat, small talk and pleasantries prepared in advance but they all fell away in that moment, looking Raleigh in the eye and not wanting to let go. Hearing his name on those lips in person. The vibration of his voice in the air and his body as it sang through him. Wow, just—

  


Raleigh didn’t realize he was holding his breath until his lungs complained. His mind had blanked — again — the second Chuck’s hand slid into his grip, his eyes locked with Chuck’s. His nerves had somehow crystallized into desire the second their skin touched.

  


_Shit. Shit. Holy shit._

  


He wondered if Chuck was feeling everything he felt. This was weird as hell. At some point they should probably let go, he figured. Now? Was now good? He didn’t _want_ to let go. He wanted to pull Chuck closer.

  


Some sense of public awareness got the best of him and he let Chuck’s hand go.

  


“Um,” Raleigh said, and he threw a glance behind Chuck, spotting the nearly-empty glass of beer. “Let’s sit down?”

  


“Right. Yeah...” Sit down. That thing. Chuck nodded dumbly and moved back, sitting at an angle in the alcove to engage his companion. Just… look at him. Study him. A living, breathing human. It seemed weird to feel weird about that or thinking that way but they only knew each other from behind the protection of computer screens.

  


Chuck wet his lips. “S’table service... she'll be over.”

  


He tapped his fingers over the wooden table in front of them. “Busy day, ay?”

  


Raleigh licked his lips too and ran a hand through his hair. His mouth was dry. He hoped the waitress would come soon. He hoped she’d never come. He hoped the rest of the world would fall away and it would just be Chuck and him. The way Chuck’s physical presence in his immediate vicinity was affecting him was unreal. He’d never felt this, not even with his hottest Grindr date. (Anchorage didn’t have much of a gay scene, so finding a guy was up to dating apps. Most of what Raleigh had been able to find were hook-ups, though.)

  


Right, Chuck had asked him something.

  


“Er, yeah,” Raleigh said. “We flew in this morning, then photo-shoots and training this afternoon. They’re kinda showing us off, I guess. And a dinner with sponsors tonight.” Hockey wasn’t very big in Australia, it barely even snowed in this place, so it puzzled Raleigh why they were even bothering flying here. Seeing the sponsors though, he had a suspicion it was about more than just the sports. But he didn’t care much about the politics or the money. Whatever the reason, it meant that he was able to come here, to Sydney, and see Chuck.

  


Who was right there, breathing and everything, giving him the most intense gaze. It was almost hard to meet that stare, but trying to shift his focus just led to looking at more of Chuck’s body, and…

  


Raleigh leaned back a little against the red fabric of the alcove sofa, slinging one leg over the knee of the other. “And uh, how was your day?”

  


Yes Chuck. What _did_ you do today.

  


“Um... nothing much I guess. It's the first time in ages I haven't had anything to do so I've just been hanging out.” Which was true but sounded lame to his own ears once he's said it and was hugely grateful to the waitress when she appeared to take their drink orders.  

  


“Did you want to start a tab sir?” she asked Chuck, who floundered with a “Buh—”

  


Raleigh gave her his winning smile. “Just put it on my room, miss,” he said. “Number 2025. I’m with the IIHF team.”

  


She nodded and took down the number. Chuck turned to object. “You don't have to do that...” Having someone pay for him, even when he didn't have a ton of cash, felt really weird.

  


“Don't worry about it,” Raleigh said. “The hockey federation pays for it anyway.” He was more than proud of himself. He'd worked hard enough to get this far and if he worked even harder he might make it into the NHL. But that was for later.

  


“I'll have a beer as well,” Raleigh said. He was about to ask Chuck if he wanted another when he realized that Chuck shouldn't even be allowed to drink alcohol. _Great, I'm corrupting him even more._ And something told him that bringing up Chuck’s legal drinking age was decidedly uncool and would not get him laid.

  


That's… what he wanted, right? His eyes scanned down Chuck's body and back up to his stunningly handsome face. Yep, that's what he wanted.

  


“Do you want another one?” Raleigh asked.

  


“Uh, yeah. Cheers love. Same as before please,” Chuck answered. Busting him to the waitress would absolutely not get Raleigh laid. And after all, he'd been invited for a drink. Like hell he was going to sit there sipping on a Shirley Temple like a child because he was two months shy of 18.

  


But when she left to get their drinks a silence followed and brought them back to awkward smalltalk. Chuck didn't have much patience for it but this was… really different.  

  


“Must be cool to expense everything. I'd be having parties all the time.” Which was more or less a lie. He'd sure think about it but if he were a serious athlete like Raleigh there was no way in hell he'd fanny about.

  


“That’s what most of the other guys are doing,” Raleigh said. “Living it up and all.”

  


“And here you are with me, instead. You don't party much, do you Ray.” Not that it was a bad thing.

  


_When you see an opening, you go for it. Don’t think. GO._

  


“I’d much rather be here with you than at some party,” Raleigh said, not missing a beat.

  


It made Chuck smile, dimples pulling deep. The warm and fuzzy spread across his insides and made him bold. They were interrupted for a brief second as their pints were delivered and Chuck glanced around the bar before leaning forward a little — daring his hand to brush across Raleigh's knee and linger.

  


“Me too,” he answered, watching Raleigh's every movement to gauge his reaction.

  


The brush of Chuck’s hand against his knee sent a warm shiver through Raleigh’s body from where Chuck had touched him. A sharp intake of breath, his eyes meeting Chuck’s again.

  


Raleigh didn’t feel like drinking a beer. He felt like grabbing Chuck’s hand, pulling Chuck towards him and kissing him until they forgot how to breathe.

  


Could he see the same in Chuck’s eyes? He wasn’t sure. But it was like the temperature in the alcove rose several degrees, the way the air feels during a thunderstorm, heavy and tense.

  


Raleigh covered Chuck’s hand on his knee with his own, not breaking eye contact. He licked his lips again. Tensed his fingers to stroke over Chuck’s.

  


It felt nice... Intimate. That wasn't a word Chuck applied to many things in his life. They were being intimate. The silence stretched between them and it was okay as the thunder built, waiting to break. One of them had to make the move.

  


Chuck mirrored Raleigh and wet his lips, letting them part a little, nice and plush. Waiting. Watching. This was it, wasn't it. Mutual attraction. A spark? Raleigh's hand across his was like lightning. It felt good. It had to be good, he thought. But hearing it aloud would mean so much more. Be all the more validating. But how to ask? And how long could the silence go on for before it got weird?!

  


The space between Chuck’s lips was nearly too much for Raleigh. He wanted to lean forward and capture that bottom lip between his teeth and lick it.

  


Instead, a little dazed from the force of their attraction, he reached out his other hand and pressed his thumb to that beautiful bottom lip. He couldn’t _not_. Was he being too forward? Raleigh no longer cared.

  


“Chuck, I… do you… I mean,” Raleigh mumbled, apparently his higher brain functions shutting down at this point. _Focus._ Raleigh coughed and tried again.  
  
“Maybe we should… go some place we can be alone. If that’s okay with you.”

  


“ _Yes,”_ Chuck answered, barely letting Raleigh speak. It vibrated against the finger at his lip and crawled up his spine to coo and purr and radiate out into his every nerve. Lightning had struck. It smelled like ozone. Raleigh Becket made the first move  and Chuck found himself practically motionless but yearning to fling himself forward for their long awaited kiss. He _needed_ it.

  


“Let's go,” tongue darting against the other's thumb.

  


Sensing the wetness of Chuck’s tongue against his digit almost had Raleigh undone. He let out a shaky breath and slowly got up from the sofa, just about pulling Chuck up along with him.

  


“Follow me,” Raleigh said, like Chuck would do anything else. He turned around and began to walk towards the hotel elevators.

  


The hotel _had_ stairs. And his room was on the second floor. But an elevator had a door. That would close behind them. Raleigh was practically buzzing out of his skin with the need to kiss Chuck, _now_.

  


And he wasn't alone in that feeling, though Chuck did have an urge to knock back his drink before they went. He was _Australian_. You didn’t waste beer. Especially if you weren’t allowed to drink yet and one was presented to you. But there wasn’t time, Raleigh pulling at him with mind and body, the promise of what would happen like a force of gravity they could only obey. The pressure mounted in his chest as they made it to the elevator and when the doors opened with nobody inside they stumbled into the small space, their hands colliding on the close-doors button. They didn’t move until the elevator doors closed and the second they slid shut Chuck turned and grabbed fistfuls of Raleigh's shirt front, pulling Raleigh down towards him and crashing their mouths together.

  


Raleigh had made the first move, but now that they were somewhere more private, he could make the second.

  


Raleigh teeth almost scraped against Chuck’s with the force of the kiss, and Raleigh’s hands went up to Chuck’s face, instinctively taking charge and pulling Chuck’s head just a little back so he could get at those plush lips, sucking them in between his own and then letting his tongue run over them before claiming all of Chuck’s mouth.

  


Heat coursed through his body, pooling in his groin, and he brought a hand to the small of Chuck’s back to bring them closer together. Groaning into the kiss, deepened through the additional contact between them, Raleigh’s mind was nothing but blissful static.

  


God, he’d wanted to do this the second he’d laid eyes on Chuck.

  


Their fears of non-attraction were short-lived and Chuck sank into the kiss with a low moan. Raleigh's lips were exactly how he'd imagined if not better. His strength was intoxicating and the way he just _knew_ how to hold Chuck made him weak.

  


And it was a weakness he wasn't scared of, no, maybe weakness wasn't the word. He innately _trusted_ his partner. Raleigh kissed him like he meant it and touched him like he _cared_ and all too soon the elevator doors swung open with a cheerful ding.

  


It left Chuck breathless as they parted and he immediately pushed at Raleigh to get out. Get _out_ and get to his room _now._ Head swimming, cock throbbing in his jeans. It was a novel idea, getting a drink, but they should have known as they tumbled through the hall towards Raleigh's room that it just wasn't their style.

  


Raleigh scrambled to shove the access card into the room’s lock and as soon as the door opened he yanked Chuck inside by his shirt and slammed him against the wall, putting his mouth back where it should be; on top of Chuck's.

  


Raleigh's hands roved over Chuck’s body, tugging at his jacket and shirt. Too many clothes between them.

  


_Get them off, get them off!_ Up against the wall Chuck was dizzier than ever. It had never been like this with Zeke or any of the other's he'd been with. They'd never kissed him with the force of a hurricane or tore at their clothes like they were suffocating, lips warring  and tasting, only breaking to pull shirts off over their heads- a moment it breathe as the fabric was cast to the floor and they were back at it. He couldn't think as he fumbled with Raleigh's fly, shoving fabric off cut, muscular hips. Hips he knew. Hips he needed to know better. Hips he met with his own in a hard, needy grind.

  


Raleigh hadn't made much noise until now — unlike Chuck's sweet, sweet moans — but the second he felt Chuck's hard-on against his own he let out a long groan.

  


“Fuck,” Raleigh panted, hips rolling into Chuck's. His mouth parted from Chuck's lips and made its way to his jaw, his neck, nipping and sucking at the skin. “God, you feel so good.”

  


Chuck was shorter than him but stockier; he didn't have all the raw bulk Raleigh had but Chuck was _lean_ , his teenage softness replaced by muscle through training and sports. It was one thing to see that amazing body on camera, but to actually feel Chuck, touch him, smell him…

  


It was intoxicating. They were intoxicated. Wrapped up in kisses and heavy petting, Chuck couldn't remember which was was up. He just wanted _more_. More kissing. More tasting. More exploration.

  


He moved his hands upwards to thread into Raleigh's short, wild hair, curling experimentally tighter as they kissed.

  


Raleigh shuddered when Chuck’s grasp on his hair tightened. He liked being manhandled, he was a big guy, he played hockey. Soft petting wasn’t his thing. He liked the kind of sex where you still felt it the next day, if not see it in the mirror. And if Chuck’s body language was anything to go by he was into that, too; hell, it’s not like Raleigh hadn’t seen the way Chuck handled himself. And now the real thing was grinding up against him desperately.

  


Still, too many clothes.

  


With a show of force Raleigh grabbed Chuck’s ass and lifted him up off the wall and towards the bed. Chuck was hardly lightweight, but Raleigh was used to bench pressing around three quarters of his own 200-something pounds. The sort of thing an average NHL player should be able to do.

  


A few big steps towards the king-sized bed and Raleigh plopped Chuck down on his back, getting to work at Chuck’s jeans, undoing the button and zipper and hooking his fingers under the waistband to yank them down.

  


Chuck arched his hips upwards, breathless and reeling a little. From the kisses, from being picked up like that. From Raleigh’s appetite and pace. Just... everything. It felt so good and he was so excited but —

  


_Isn't this going just a little too fast?_

  


Chuck couldn't help the little voice in the back of his head. He could try to ignore it and push it back, but it was still there as he spread out under Raleigh's fingers, cock hard and aching for attention, lips kiss stung and swollen.

  


_No, no. This is good. This is perfect. We're gonna have sex this is awesome_ —

  


— _But isn't this moving a little too fast?_

  


Raleigh pulled Chuck’s jeans all the way down, off his feet, socks right along with them, then did the same to his own wardrobe. He was wearing dark grey boxers himself, and Chuck was wearing the same in black. Dick just as hard as Raleigh’s. Raleigh had to take a second to admire Chuck’s body. Not only beautiful in musculature but also covered in freckles and the dusting of ginger hair, a far too appealing trail leading from his bellybutton to his cock; Raleigh had seen the last part on webcam, but not the freckles. Those didn’t translate on the screen. They were myriad, countless, and he wanted to taste them all.

  


Unable to tolerate being separated from Chuck any longer Raleigh crawled on top of him, underwear still on, but as far as he was concerned that was only a matter of seconds. He just really wanted to hear and feel Chuck’s reaction when Raleigh got his hand on Chuck’s dick. His hand skimmed down Chuck’s abs, going right for the prize.

  


And Chuck wanted it. In that moment he'd never wanted anything more, but a sort of cold panic bubbled up in his stomach.

  


_I'm exposed._

  


That's all it said at first. He gasped into Raleigh's mouth as they kissed and Raleigh's hand grabbed him. Warm and strong and heavy on top of him. Chuck could hear the blood rushing in his ears.

  


_I'm exposed this is really serious!_

  


Chuck arched his hips up into the hand palming him through his boxers. Calm down. Calm down. It's okay. He was gonna be okay. It was moving a little too fast but he could cope. He _would_ cope. He could deal with someone being forward. Zeke had been handsy and Chuck was okay with it until he'd been _too_ handsy.

  


He didn't think Raleigh would do that. Then again he didn't really know the guy. They'd never talked about Zeke. They hadn't set any boundaries so it wasn't really fair to tell Raleigh he'd crossed one when they weren't agreed in the first place. _Don't be so fucking lame_ , Chuck thought to himself. _Just relax_. He tightened his grip in Raleigh's hair, pulling for kisses. Nosing for slow ones that didn't fit at all with their fast paced heavy petting. But he could get control. He could slow them down, he thought.

  


Raleigh couldn’t believe this was even real — Chuck felt so good underneath him, smelled amazing, and he loved all the gasps and twitches he gave, arching into him. He groaned when Chuck’s grip in his hair tightened again and answered Chuck’s passion with his own, kissing him deep and hard.

  


His hand slid up again, only to finally dip into Chuck’s boxers, and Raleigh wrapped his hand around Chuck’s hot, hard length.

  


“So hard for me, baby,” Raleigh whispered against Chuck’s lips.

  


It sent a twist of bliss through Chuck so fast it made his head spin, but following behind it like thunder follows lightening came a boom of the panic that was already spreading through him.

  


_Say something, Chuck!_

  


But he was so wrapped up in Raleigh’s strength. He tried kissing him slowly instead. He’d never felt weird like this on the phone… but... He’d always had the safety of separation. And he and Zeke had gotten about as far as this but it was awkward teenage fumbling and this… this was… not.

  


“Shhh,” Chuck mumbled. It was the best he found he was able to get out as he kissed slowly and willed Raleigh the ability to read his mind. Slow down, slow down please—

  


“What’s that baby?” Raleigh murmured, breaking off their kisses to mouth at Chuck’s neck. He pumped him slow and firm, twisting his hand over the head, spreading out the precum Chuck was leaking. His other hand was trailing at Chuck’s hip, trying to find its way to that wonderful little ass. Raleigh recalled very vividly how Chuck had reacted to the vibrator and he really wanted to see how Chuck would react to Raleigh’s fingers, Raleigh’s tongue even. Arousal was thrumming in his veins and he began to shift their positions so he’d have a better angle to get his hand on Chuck’s behind.

  


Chuck tensed a little as they moved. Raleigh's hand on his cock was incredible. Mouth on his skin, other hand groping for his ass, muscular and round and immaculate.

  


“Slow,” he gasped. “Ray please,” because he wanted it. He really did. He just felt so… weird. Was he getting cold feet? He didn't think so... but should he have stalled? Waited a little more? Talked a little more? Shame made its presence known, joining the cacophony of anxieties in Chuck's head. Why was he being scared? What had gone wrong, had he done something? Was he wrong for feeling weird about this? He felt bad for feeling bad and all the while Raleigh worked him over and it sent such conflicting emotions through Chuck that he felt paralysed.

  


Raleigh slowed his motions, keeping his hands where they were, but not moving any further. Something about the tone of Chuck’s voice made coldness creep into the warm haze of lust that ran through him and he leaned back a bit to make eye contact.

  


Raleigh was horny as hell, but he wasn’t a complete tool; Chuck didn’t look excited, he looked _scared_. The coldness he’d felt turned into a bucket of ice water.

  


“Shit,” Raleigh mumbled, and he let go of Chuck, sitting back on his haunches. No, it’d probably be better to get all the way off him—

  


A litany of self-chastizing thoughts had come along with the bucket of ice water. _You fucked up, you fucked up, you practically assaulted him, he’s fucking 17 Rals, jesus, what were you thinking, no you weren’t, you were thinking with your dick asshole, he’s going to run out of here, his dad is going to kill you, you’ll never see him again, you goddamn fucked up—_

  


Raleigh pulled a hand over his face. “Shit, I’m sorry, Chuck.”

  


“No no, hey—” Chuck protested, rolling as if to follow him. _Shit! Shit, Chuck you idiot!_ “Hey now—”

  


Raleigh stepped back a little, a look of concern on his face. Now what? Should they get dressed or something? This was new to him. Practically all of his dates had been smooth sailing and not just thanks to plenty of lube. It’s not that he hadn’t messed up now and then. His first time had been mostly drunk fumbling with his high school crush who ‘wanted to try a dude’ and that was shit and he’d gotten over that and onto better men with bigger dicks. Mostly through dating apps, sometimes lasting a few months, nothing long term. But that straight-up fearful look from Chuck, he hadn’t seen anything like it before. Or maybe it got to him because _Chuck_ got to him. For the more experienced party here, Raleigh suddenly felt very out of his depth. He should know how to handle this. He _had_ to handle this. Then he had an actually helpful idea. _How would Yance handle this?_

  


Raleigh licked his lips and stepped a little closer to Chuck again, holding out his hand. “You okay?”

  


Chuck took it immediately, looking for connection. That it was okay, that this wasn't falling apart. Fearful and panicking that he was ruining this as fast as he could.

  


“I'm—yeah. Sorry... sorry I dunno what—” he shook his head, this was crashing and burning and it was all his fault.

  


_What would Yancy do._ Raleigh needed to get that tattooed somewhere. Or like, on a bracelet or something.

  


“It’s alright,” Raleigh said, carefully pulling Chuck up and forward and into a hug. Hugs were okay right? Raleigh liked hugs.

  


Hugs were good.

  


“Could we...” Chuck tried, shifting to curl into Raleigh's arms. They fell into place like puzzle pieces and Chuck was terrified Raleigh would get up and leave at any moment.

  


“Sorry... Could we just slow down a little?”

  


Raleigh smiled, tightening his arms around Chuck. Wow, this felt nice. Nothing like the roaring desire he'd felt earlier, but just as warm. Weird.

  


“Yeah. Yeah, of course,” Raleigh said.

  


They stood like that for a good minute until Raleigh let go. He scratched his head. “Sorry if I went too fast. It's just, you're _really_ attractive in real life,” he said. “Even more than online.”

  


Chuck smiled, relaxing a hair. That was nice to hear.

  


“So are you. I'm sorry,” he shook his head, burning with embarrassment.  Now would have been a good time for the earth to swallow him whole.

  


“So um,” Raleigh began, “Do you… want to go back downstairs, or…”

  


“No,” again Chuck shook his head, shifting his weight into one foot and crossing his arms lightly over his chest out of insecurity. “I like it better up here. We could... I mean, we could lay back down.”

  


A beat. He dragged a hand through his hair before scrubbing it.

  


“Shit, I've fucked this, ay.”

  


Raleigh raised an eyebrow. Chuck was blaming himself? If anyone here screwed up it was Raleigh. He was the older, wiser one. Or supposed to be. But, well. They could stand here blaming themselves until aliens crawled out of the Pacific to eat them all, or he could go back to touching Chuck, which he was totally on board with even if nothing else happened. Which was also kinda new for him.

  


“Sure, we can lay down,” Raleigh replied, putting a knee up on the bed and reaching out to Chuck. “I'd like that.”

  


Chuck nearly apologised again as he moved to join Raleigh on the bed, taking his hand and then shifting so that he could slot in perfectly to the space along Raleigh's form. He skimmed a hand up Raleigh's side and looked up at him, realising that... well. He'd tried to say something and even though it was difficult to get out... Raleigh still heard him. And respected it. He was nothing like Zeke. This was so much better.

  


“I don't wanna kill the mood,” Chuck murmured, nosing for a kiss. A sweet one to start, slow and gentle. Tasting. Savouring.

  


“Mood’s still here,” Raleigh said with a smile. From now on, he’d be careful, follow Chuck’s pace instead. He felt a bit strange, like his chest ached, but not in a bad way. He recognised Chuck’s gesture for what it was and leaned forward, kissing Chuck on the lips, rather than trying to claim his mouth.

  


The kiss made his hands and feet tingle. This was nothing like what he was used to, but it was good. Just going slow like this, feeling Chuck in his arms. Even so, he could sense how this was already stirring him up, desire crackling to life in his body. But he would control himself this time, he didn’t want to freak Chuck out again. Raleigh closed his eyes and kissed Chuck again, sighing into the kiss.

  


This was so much better for Chuck. Less pressure. Less haste. He'd never considered himself the go slow, old fashioned type but he knew himself well enough not to ignore that screaming in his head. And it had worked out in the end so… nothing to be upset about. Just lovely, lovely bliss as they kissed slowly.

  


It made his body sing. It made him tingle all over the way Raleigh had started to handle him. This was good. This was so much better. Slow, slow, hands skimming over warm skin and hard muscle.

  


“Feel so good,” he breathed. There wasn't a lack of getting riled back up on either side, Chuck just needed to get there one step at a time. He ran his fingers down over Raleigh's flank and across his hip before working back up over hard abs and chest, thumb rolling over his pebbled nipple.

  


Raleigh let out a shakybreath when Chuck's thumb found his nipple. Letting Chuck take charge for a bit was definitely a great idea. Chuck's hesitant but curious touches had heat rising up through Raleigh's body and he sensed his erection making a comeback.

  


He let his own hand wander across Chuck’s side, nails sliding over the skin of his back without scratching. Raleigh found himself unable to stop smiling. This was so… intimate. And he thought it might have been weird when meeting Chuck for the first time, and it had been a little bit, but it was like their bodies already knew each other, as familiar as if they'd spent a lifetime together.

  


He wet his lips and leaned in for another kiss, caught by Chuck who lapped gently before capturing Raleigh's bottom lip and nipping it with his teeth.

  


It felt meant. Like they weren't strangers at all. Like their bodies were in dialogue and the conversation rapture. There was no rush to the finish line but rather the joy was the journey to get there and finally, finally, Chuck dropped his hand back down between Raleigh's legs. To his huge, hard cock which he wrapped his hand around just to feel. Just to touch his cock and balls and soft, inner thigh.

  


“Nnngh,” Raleigh groaned, hips involuntarily twitching into Chuck’s grasp. _Yes._ Chuck taking charge? Excellent. Awesome idea. Raleigh bit his lip and just basked in the pleasurable sensation of having Chuck's hand on his cock. His fingers twitched at Chuck's hip, but he didn't make a move yet.

  


Let me do it, Chuck's body said with every movement. Raleigh obeyed and it made him braver, moving on from their sweet kisses to trail his lips along jaw and neck and shoulder where he gently dragged his teeth over Raleigh's skin, laving at the spot with his tongue before going back to kissing Raleigh's neck with his hand working in sync. It was so nice to smell him. Taste him. His aftershave was nice but not too strong. Raleigh felt like strength and lust against him and Chuck could hardly take it but he wouldn't stop.

  


Raleigh bit back a moan when Chuck's teeth scraped over his skin. “Chuck,” he husked. “Feels really good.”

  


“Yeah?” Breathy. It was nice to hear, reacting well to encouragement. Chuck was a verbal communicator. The feedback was vital for him to assess where they were and what was going on. “Taste good,” he answered. He wanted to taste every single inch of Raleigh's skin. Taste the power in him. The affection.

  


Chuck nudged Raleigh to lay flat on his back so he could climb up on top, kissing his lips before trailing back down again to work over his body. He wrapped his hand more steadily around Raleigh's length, endeavouring not to be intimidated by its size, and pumped it—thumb rolling over the head through beading precome.

  


“Jesus,” Raleigh hissed, and he let his head fall back, bucking up into Chuck's touch. He still wasn't exactly sure how much experience Chuck did or didn't have, but he clearly knew what he was doing with Raleigh's dick.

  


Raleigh kept in contact with Chuck, one hand on Chuck's shoulder, the other weaving into his hair.

  


“You ok?” Chuck asked, binging his lips back from Raleigh’s nipple to look up at him with bright eyes. His hand slowed but didn't stop.

  


“Mmm, yeah,” Raleigh said, lifting his head a little to look up at Chuck. Raleigh's cheeks were flushed, a happy grin on his face. He gave Chuck's shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “You're doing great, baby.”

  


Chuck smiled, closing his eyes for a second and leaning into the hand Raleigh had in his hair before dropping back down. Good. He'd needed that and he went back to his task, hand picking up as he played, finding the best way to handle Raleigh's body.

  


He liked being in control. It felt safe. Chuck gave a small hum of pleasure as he shifted, angling to slip between Raleigh's knees. Glancing up again for a moment, he smiled and placed his free hand at the other's hip before sinking down to press kisses along Raleigh's inner thigh. Breathing him in, Chuck felt a flood of pleasure. He was throbbing with it and worked his lips to the base of Raleigh's shaft where he held it with his hand and licked a long, hot stripe up his cock with the flat of his tongue.

  


Raleigh couldn't bite back the moan this time. _Holy shit._ When he'd let Chuck take charge he hadn't expected it to turn into a blow job. This guy was full of surprises.

  


He grabbed one of the pillows beside him to perch himself up more. He wanted to have a good view of Chuck's mouth on his dick. He kept his hand in Chuck's hair, careful to not apply any pressure.

  


Chuck was here for this, he really was, and heating the noises coming out of Raleigh made him burn with pleasure. He liked the control. He liked the satisfaction of knowing _he_ was the one responsible for the noises coming out of his partner’s mouth. Nobody else, not over the phone, but him. Right here right now.

  


Chuck grinned, watching Raleigh shift and position before he sank down, taking the head of his cock in his mouth and rolling his tongue around it with a low moan. Chuck liked giving head, he just didn't like being rushed about it. Raleigh wasn't rushing him and so he set to slowly suck him off, taking as much as he could in his mouth without choking and making up the rest of the length with his hand.

  


“Fuuuuck,” Raleigh groaned. The wetness and heat of Chuck's mouth felt incredible. Not to mention the sight of his cock sliding into Chuck's mouth, jesus. If Chuck's father was going to kill him, it would have been worth it, just for this. Chuck was beautiful with Raleigh's dick between his lips, really, and he couldn't help affectionately thumbing at Chuck's cheekbone. Their eyes met and Chuck's gaze was sexy as hell, pupils blown wide from arousal, and so clearly enjoying himself. A far cry from the scared look he'd had earlier.

  


It just went to show what difference a little bit of communication could make. Chuck leaned into Raleigh's hand a little as he worked, keeping eye contact, watching the effects he was having on the other's body.

  


Raleigh's arousal was mounting, and he had a difficult time not increasing the pace, his hands twitching in frustration. At the same time, the slowness, the teasing, just made it so much more intense. His hips were starting to jerk up into Chuck's mouth despite his efforts to hold back. It was just too good.

  


“Chuck, I'm… —god that feels amazing, love the feel of your mouth—…ngh, fuck—”

  


Chuck gave a hum in response, vibrations traveling from his body to the member in his mouth. With him in control he felt a lot better about increasing the pace. Raleigh losing his mind under Chuck's lips was rewarding and intoxicating. He pulled back at the first sign that he might gag but they had a good rhythm going, building as they fell into sync with each other. He held Raleigh's hip tightly for a while before moving that hand down to join, slipping under Raleigh's balls to press just the gentlest amount of pressure up under them against his taint.

  


Raleigh squirmed and moaned under Chuck's ministrations. His legs fell open, instinctively wanting to give Chuck more access. He was getting closer and closer to coming. Chuck was _good_ at this.

  


He was a natural talent, edged on by just how vocal and responsive Raleigh was. Chuck felt like he was about to burst but he wanted to finish what he'd started before thinking about himself. The immediate question that came to mind was _what was he gonna do when Raleigh came_? Because he'd have to decide real fast if he was going to swallow or not and he wasn't sure what Raleigh was expecting.

  


It wasn't like he could ask, either. _Oh c'mon you wuss, just do it,_ he thought. Raleigh wasn't gonna make him do something one way or the other right now, it was up to him. Ah fuck it... go big or go home.

  


He decided all of this while sucking Raleigh off like he was starving, moaning low, hands working in time with his mouth.

  


“Chuck, I'm so close,” Raleigh gasped, and he looked down. Surely Chuck could figure what happened next? But Chuck looked determined and then doubled his efforts and Raleigh was gone. His hips bucked up faster, pleasure building up throughout his body in waves, and then they crested, giving him the release he craved as he came with a gasp. For a few moments, everything was pure white and bliss, warmth pulsing through him.

  


The warning, Chuck thought absently, had been considerate of Raleigh. The spike of delight at watching him figure out that Chuck _knew_ and he wasn't going to pull away was totally worth it. He swallowed every drop before pulling back and licking his lips. His mouth went a little numb from Raleigh’s seed and Chuck decided that it really wasn't so bad at all. He liked it, even. Licking his lips again, Chuck pitched forward to crawl the length of Raleigh's body and settle, his own need pressing into the blond’s hip as he came looking for kisses.

  


Raleigh couldn't possibly have a bigger smile plastered on his face. He felt totally awesome, and welcomed Chuck, pulling him in tight and kissing him, licking his own taste off Chuck's lips.

  


Chuck was grinding into him and Raleigh trailed a hand to Chuck’s hip, but didn't continue. Clearly Chuck responded to being in control for now and Raleigh could work with that. He was feeling very thankful though, and wouldn't mind showing Chuck how _deep_ his gratitude went.

  


He placed a kiss on the corner of Chuck's mouth. “What would you like me to do, baby?” Raleigh said. “I'd love to make you feel good.” Raleigh was all about reciprocation, all the more if it meant Chuck's dick in his mouth. Or, in other places. He was very flexible.

  


“I'd like that,” Chuck answered, nosing Raleigh's cheek. Go on, Chuck. What do you want him to do... So… so many things came to mind.

  


_Take it slow, Hansen,_ he reminded himself. This is only night one. Tomorrow, he reasoned, would be a little more physical.  

  


He raised a hand back up to card through Raleigh's hair, short nails over his scalp. “I think you should show me what you can really do with these lips,” Chuck purred and lapped at the other's mouth.

  


“I can do that,” Raleigh murmured in between kisses. He was pretty good with his mouth, he knew. There hadn’t been an official survey, but he’d gotten plenty of positive feedback.

  


For starters, he was going to show Chuck just how good of a kisser he was — not just the frantic deep ones they’d had first, and not these slow ones, either.

  


Raleigh moved to take control a little bit, placing a hand on Chuck’s jaw whilst bringing the other to the small of his back, gentle but firm this time. He tilted Chuck’s head at the angle he wanted and then softly kissed Chuck’s bottom lip, then the top one. Raleigh licked into Chuck’s mouth and his tongue lapped at Chuck’s, sensually, teasing him to answer in kind.

  


Meanwhile, Raleigh trailed his other hand down Chuck’s stomach, well aware what the result of this action was earlier. His fingers wrapped tentatively around Chuck’s shaft, leaving the sensitive head alone for now.

  


It was the kind of kiss that made a man twist up on the inside. The kind of kiss that meant something more than a lusty snog. It made Chuck warm and dizzy and emotional, arching his body against Raleigh before rolling back to give him access to what was between them and _oh_ he was glad he did.

  


This was good. This was so much better than their clumsy, rowdy start. He didn't feel exposed this time, gasping softly through their kiss, cock aching for attention.

  


Raleigh smiled against Chuck's lips, happy that what he was doing was working. He thumbed the head of Chuck’s cock, spreading out the slick precum, smoothing his movements over the sensitive skin.

  


Then, he began to kiss down Chuck's neck, his shoulders, his chest, and attached his mouth to one of Chuck's nipples to suck hard, tongue swirling around the nub. Raleigh glanced up to see if Chuck was still on board with where he was going.

  


It was tender and consuming and made Chuck's head spin as he gasped and arched. He kept one hand in Raleigh's hair, the other at his shoulder. It was good, it was so good.

  


“Don't stop,” he gasped. “Fuck, don't stop—”

  


Raleigh smiled and kissed his way further down Chuck’s torso until finally, he placed a kiss on top of Chuck’s cock. His eyes met Chuck’s again, and Raleigh’s eyes sparkled. He couldn’t wait to see how Chuck would react next.

  


Raleigh licked his lips and then sucked Chuck’s cock into his mouth hard, took it in even further, swallowing past his gag reflex until his nose was buried in Chuck’s red pubes and Chuck’s dick was nudging at his throat.

  


Chuck keened, arching up, fingers tightening their grip. Chuck had gotten head before but this— so deep, god, it was something else. It made his head spin, caught between wanting to crush his eyes closed with bliss and not being able to look away.

  


In the end he watched, committing the sight to memory.

  


How many times had they illustrated this scenario between them. How many times had he purred about fucking Raleigh's throat, and here they were. And it was almost without Chuck's direction that he slid his hand further down Raleigh's scalp to cup the base of his head. Go on, go on.

  


Raleigh swallowed around Chuck’s cock and then slowly let it slide out of his mouth, releasing it with a vulgar wet sound. Chuck was looking at him enraptured. Raleigh placed his hand on top of Chuck’s on the back of his head and smiled. “You can be rough if you want,” he said, not sure if Chuck wanted to go for it. He was beginning to learn communication was kind of important, apparently.

  


With that, he sucked Chuck’s dick back into his mouth and swallowed it in deeper, bobbing his head up and down in time with Chuck thrusting his hips forward — carefully at first, then speeding up when he realized Raleigh was doing fine.

  


Raleigh couldn’t meet Chuck’s gaze now that his eyes were tearing up from his efforts, and he hoped Chuck was enjoying this as much as he was.

  


If Chuck's reaction was anything to judge by though Raleigh was doing just fine. He moans and arched and thrust down Raleigh's throat, grasp tightening, movements becoming braver. He was scared to be too rough or put Raleigh in a situation like the one Zeke had got him into… but everything seemed okay. It felt incredible and Raleigh's daring and skill sent Chuck reeling with bliss, a gasp catching in his throat, body tightening when he was close.

  


“Ray—” it was ragged. He was _so_ close.

  


If only Raleigh could _tell_ Chuck that it was alright, to let go, to trust him — but he was far too happy with Chuck thrusting up into his face to consider pulling off. So he communicated the way he did best, anyway. He ran his hands up Chuck’s thighs, thumbs rubbing slow circles into the muscles of his hips and lower abdomen, and hummed, closing his eyes and taking Chuck down as deep as he could.

  


And oh jesus if that wasn't an answer Chuck didn't know what was. With a hitched breath he came, fighters tight in Raleigh's hair, seed spilling hot down his throat.

  


Raleigh shuddered, loving the feel of Chuck’s load sliding down his throat, so far back he couldn’t even get the taste of it — maybe that was a shame, he figured — but the way Chuck was pulling his hair and gasping it was totally worth it. And he completely sucked Chuck dry, only letting off when he could tell by the little shocks in Chuck’s body that he was getting oversensitive.

  


Raleigh licked his lips and looked up at Chuck with his typical big smile. Still — he’d like to hear it. Dirty talk was a thing of his. “So that’s one of the things I can do with my lips,” Raleigh said. “You liked that, baby?”

  


Chuck laughed softly, reaching down to cup his empty, sensitive balls as he rode out the little shocks of pleasure in his system.

  


He smiled, gesturing for Raleigh to come back up and join him. “Mm, mmhm. You're aces, love. C'mere.”

  


Chuck was happy, and Raleigh was happy that Chuck was happy. This was awesome. He felt awesome.

  


Raleigh crawled up to Chuck and kissed him, sloppily and lazy because he was worn out — a content kind of worn out, what with all the orgasms. Then he flopped to the side and pulled Chuck in to cuddle. So he was a cuddler, whatever.

  


Only out of the corner of his eye he caught the alarm clock. It really had no business being way past midnight. He had to be up at 7am for pre-game training. Raleigh groaned a little, not really wanting to let go of Chuck or have the night end or anything.

  


“So, um,” Raleigh started. “I have a game tomorrow morning and I gotta get up early, so—”

  


Oh.

  


Chuck had just settled into the cuddle when Raleigh spoke. He could put it together and yawned, looking up at Raleigh over his shoulder.

  


“You want me to go?”

  


“Uh,” Raleigh mumbled. He leaned his head forward against Chuck’s shoulder. “No. But, you should probably not stay out all night? Or… I mean, can you?”

  


Chuck almost rolled his eyes. Almost. Raleigh was being considerate, or trying to kick Chuck out without looking like an asshole, or both. But damn it made him sound like he was a child.

  


“Could if you wanted me to,” he answered. “There's some crisis on base’s got everyone working through the night for a couple'a days. Timing’s good... but I know you have to work so I'm not insulted if you need your space.”

  


That was the adult way to handle it, right?

  


“Even if you cast me out into the dark,” Chuck added playfully.

  


Space? Raleigh had been spending weeks alone at night in a hotel room. He'd had space. Too much of it.

  


He wrapped his arms tighter around Chuck. “Just don't want you to feel like you have to stay,” Raleigh said. If Chuck felt pressured to stay or do anything just because they were meeting in real life and not because he wanted to Raleigh would never forgive himself. He wouldn't blame Chuck for bailing out now. Raleigh sure as heck didn't sleep over with his hookups. Chuck was different to him, but maybe he was no different to Chuck.

  


Which was sweet to wonder about when it was the opposite in reality.

  


“Nah... didn't want you to think I was clingin’ is all.” One of those nightmare dates where you bang and then don't leave for three days.

  


“Well,” Raleigh began, and he kissed the corner of Chuck's mouth. “Then I have a hotel bed big enough for two people to spend the night.”

  


Chuck laughed softly and brushed noses. “Mm, n’ I'm right here, baby.”

  


Raleigh noticed his eyes starting to feel heavy. Not fair, he thought. He wanted to spend at least five more hours making out with Chuck. But he'd had a long day already, and exchanging blowjobs had sapped the last of his energy.

  


Raleigh curled into Chuck’s chest, even if it felt a bit silly, Chuck being smaller than him. This was nice, Raleigh thought. He could definitely get used to this kind of thing. Chuck said something, but Raleigh wasn’t able to resist the pull of sleep any longer, and drifted off.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Skype is © Microsoft Corporation. WhatsApp is © Facebook, Inc. Brand names used without permission and not meant as an endorsement in any way from either party. Etc, etc, don't sue us, we're poor fanfic authors.
> 
> If at any time in the future the images disappear, please email deltasierra4@gmail.com! The dialogue text is also present in the images' alt attribute and should be compatible with screenreaders and textonly apps. <3


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